


Beginning Sparks

by Goldenfeather88



Series: The World of the Marked [2]
Category: Warriors - Erin Hunter
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Multi, Power Cats
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-03-15
Updated: 2019-07-25
Packaged: 2019-11-18 07:01:56
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 27,713
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18115694
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Goldenfeather88/pseuds/Goldenfeather88
Summary: Rusty has always had dreams of the forest... Where he was respected for who he was and could live the life that he wanted. While loving his twoleg, he wanted to be free while escaping the hate of most of the other kittypets.However.... He soon finds his self in the middle of a struggle... Does he follow his dreams of the forest or does he join up with his unknown family?Especially since it seems like both sides seem to be want him in their groups... And there seems to be truths that both are hiding from him...Firepaw has a power and somethings happened differently... AU.





	1. Allegiances

**ThunderClan Allegiances**

_Leader:_ Bluestar- Pale blue gray she cat with icy blue eyes.

 _Deputy:_ Redtail- Dark tortoiseshell tom with a bushy red tail and amber eyes.

Apprentice: Dustpaw

 _Medicine cat:_ Spottedleaf- Dark tortoiseshell and white she cat with a dappled coat and amber eyes.

 _Warriors:_ Lionheart-Pale golden tabby tom with green eyes.

Apprentice: Graypaw

Tigerclaw- Dark brown tabby tom with pale amber eyes.

Apprentice: Ravenpaw

Whitestorm- Snowy white tom with yellow eyes.

Apprentice: Sandpaw

Darkstripe- Dark gray tabby tom with black stripes and yellow eyes.

Longtail- Pale brown tabby tom with black stripes and blue eyes.

Crowsong- Black tom with white tipped, ears, paws, and tail, and yellow eyes.

Runningwind- Light brown tabby tom with green eyes.

Mousefur- Dusky brown she cat with amber eyes.

Willowpelt- Very pale silver gray she cat with deep blue eyes.

Hollowtail- Dark gray tom with large white patches and amber eyes.

Bitterclaw- Blue gray she cat with a paler underbelly and amber eyes.

Dawnpatch- Dilute tortoiseshell she cat with pale amber eyes.

Birdtail- Dark ginger tabby she cat with amber eyes.

Dogfang- Gray tabby tom with amber eyes.

 _Apprentices:_ Dustpaw- Dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Ravenpaw- Black tom with a tiny white dash on his chest and green eyes.

Sandpaw- Pale ginger she cat with pale leaf-green eyes.

Graypaw- Silver gray tom with a dark stripe running down his back and yellow eyes.

 _Queens and Kits:_ Frostfur- Snow white she cat with dark sky blue eyes. (Mother to Lionheart’s kits)

Cinderkit- Smokey dark gray she cat with blue eyes.

Brackenkit- Golden brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Thornkit- Golden brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Brightkit- White and ginger she cat with green eyes.

Goldenflower- Pale ginger tabby she cat with yellow eyes. (Mother to Patchfoot’s kit and ???’s kit)

Swiftkit- Black and white tom with pale amber eyes.

Woodkit- Dark brown she cat with shorter fur with one ocean blue eye and one dark brown eye.

Brindleface- Pale gray tabby she cat with darker flecks and green eyes. (Expecting Redtail’s kits)

Speckletail- Pale golden tabby she cat with amber eyes. (Expecting kits, unknown father)

 _Elders:_ Halftail- Dark brown tabby tom with half of his tail and yellow eyes.

Smallear- Gray tom with small ears and amber eyes.

Patchpelt- Black and white tom with amber eyes.

One-eye- Pale gray she cat with one missing eye and one amber eye.

Dappletail- Dappled tortoiseshell and white she cat with hazel eyes.

Rosetail- Gray tabby she cat with a pinkish-orange tail and amber eyes.

 

**RiverClan Allegiances**

_Leader:_ Crookedstar- Light brown tabby tom with a pale brown belly, a twisted jaw, and green eyes.

 _Deputy:_ Oakheart- Dark reddish brown tom with amber eyes.

 _Medicine cat:_ Mudfur- Mottled light brown tom with a pale belly and amber eyes.

 _Warriors:_ Softwing- Light brown tabby and white she cat with hazel eyes.

Beetlenose- Crow black tom with amber eyes.

Apprentice: Sandypaw

Blackclaw- Smokey black tom with amber eyes.

Apprentice: Heavypaw

Skyheart- Pale brown tabby she cat with amber eyes.

Apprentice: Littlepaw

Sunfish- Light brown she cat with amber eyes.

Apprentice: Blossompaw

Frogleap- Gray tom with a striped tail and hazel eyes.

Loudbelly- Dark brown tom with hazel eyes.

Apprentice: Silverpaw

Sedgecreek- Brown tabby she with amber eyes.

Leopardfur- Dappled golden tabby she cat with dark golden spots and amber eyes.

Apprentice: Mosspaw

Stonefur- Pale blue gray tom with blue eyes.

Apprentice: Shadepaw

Mallowtail- Tortoiseshell tabby and white she cat with green eyes.

Dawnbright- Ginger and white she cat with amber eyes.

Silverstream- Light silver gray and black tabby she cat with blue eyes.

Vixenclaw- Black she cat with amber eyes.

Grasspelt- Brown tabby tom with darker stripes and green eyes.

Pebblefur- Pale gray tabby tom with darker flecks on his back and amber eyes.

Troutstone- Dark gray tom with hazel eyes.

Whiteclaw- Black tom with one white paw and blue eyes.

 _Apprentices:_ Shadepaw- Dark gray she cat with gray eyes.

Blossompaw- White she cat with dark black splotches and green eyes.

Mosspaw- Tortoiseshell and white she cat with blue eyes.

Sandypaw- Dilute tortoiseshell she cat with cream and blue gray tabby and light copper eyes.

Littlepaw-Tortoiseshell she cat with blue eyes.

Silverpaw- Brown tabby tom with silver eyes.

Heavypaw- Brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

 _Queens and Kits:_ Petaldust-Dilute tortoiseshell she cat with green eyes. (Mother to an unknown father’s kits)

Fogkit- Gray tabby tom with white paws and amber eyes.

Cranekit- Dilute tortoiseshell she cat with amber eyes.

Streamkit- Ginger she cat with white paws and hazel eyes.

Mistyfoot- Blue gray she cat with icy blue eyes. (Mother to Blackclaw’s kits)

Primosekit- Pale creamy brown she cat with white paws and amber eyes.

Pikekit- Dark gray tom with dark mottled markings like a fish and blue eyes.

Perchkit- Black tom with green eyes.

Reedkit- Black tom with dark gray eyes.

 _Elders:_ Graypool- Dark gray she cat with pale yellow eyes.

Owlfur- Brown and white tom with a white muzzle and green eyes.

Rippleclaw- Black and silver tabby tom with amber eyes.

 

**ShadowClan Allegiances**

_Leader:_ Brokenstar- Dark brown tabby tom with a bent tail, a flat face, and orange eyes.

 _Deputy:_ Blackfoot- White tom with black paws and ears, six toes on one foot, and amber eyes.

Apprentice: Dawnpaw

 _Medicine cat:_ Yellowfang-Dark gray she cat with a flat face and orange eyes.

Runningnose- Gray and white tom with a running nose and amber eyes.

 _Warriors:_ Brackenfoot- Pale ginger tom with dark ginger legs and amber eyes.

Mudclaw-Gray tom with brown legs and hazel eyes.

Lizardstripe- Pale brown she cat with a white underbelly and yellow eyes.

Apprentice: Springpaw

Nettlespots-White she cat with ginger flecks and blue eyes.

Newtspeck- Mottled black and ginger tabby she cat with amber eyes.

Frogtail- Dark gray tom with green eyes.

Ashheart- Pale gray she cat with blue eyes.

Scorchwind- Ginger tabby tom with yellow eyes.

Rowanberry- Cream and brown she cat with amber eyes.

Nutwhisker- Brown tom with amber eyes.

Wolfstep- Gray tom with amber eyes.

Russetfur- Dark ginger she cat with dark green eyes.

Boulder- Gray tom with blue eyes.

Apprentice: Webpaw

Flintfang- Gray tom with amber eyes.

Fernshade- Tortoiseshell she cat with amber eyes.

Clawface- Brown tom with amber eyes.

Apprentice: Littlepaw

Deerfoot- Gray tom with brown spots on his back and amber eyes.

Tangleburr- Gray and brown she cat with green eyes.

Cinderfur- Gray tom with amber eyes.

Stumpytail- Brown tom with darker stripes, a short stumpy tail, and green eyes.

Apprentice: Brownpaw

Tallpoppy- Light brown she cat with yellow-green eyes.

Darkflower- Black she cat with dark blue eyes.

 _Apprentices:_ Dawnpaw- Pale ginger tabby she cat with blue eyes.

Brownpaw- Brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Wetpaw- Gray tabby tom with blue eyes.

Littlepaw- Brown tabby tom with light blue eyes.

Springpaw- Very dark brown tabby she cat with yellow-green eyes.

 _Queens and Kits:_ Brightflower- Ginger tabby she cat with a flat face and amber eyes. (Mother to Brackenfoot’s kits)

Marigoldkit- Tortoiseshell she cat with a flat face and amber eyes.

Mintkit- Gray tom with amber eyes.

Shadeclaw- Black and white she cat with amber eyes. (Mother to Frogtail’s kits)

Nightkit- Black she cat with pale green eyes.

Whitekit- Black tom with a white chest and paws and icy blue eyes.

Moonstripe-Silver tabby and white she cat with green eyes. (Mother to Brokenstar’s kits)

Ratkit-Dark brown tom with green eyes

Snowkit- White she cat with green eyes.

Furykit- Silver tabby tom with amber eyes.

 _Elders:_ Nightpelt- Black tom with amber eyes.

Ashfur- Gray tom with blue eyes.

Featherstorm- Dark brown tabby she cat with amber eyes.

Crowtail- Black tabby she cat with green eyes.

Archeye-Gray tabby tom with black stripes and green eyes.

Hollyflower- Dark gray and white she cat with green eyes.

Poolcloud- Pale gray and white she cat with blue eyes.

 

**WindClan Allegiances**

_Leader:_ Tallstar- Black and white tuxedo tom with amber eyes.

 _Deputy:_ Deadfoot- Black tom with a twisted front, left paw, and green eyes.

 _Medicine cat:_ Barkface- Dark brown tom with a short tail and amber eyes.

 _Warriors:_ Stagleap- Dark brown tom with amber eyes.

Doespring- Light brown she cat with green eyes.

Ryestalk- Gray tabby she cat with amber eyes.

Pigeonfur- Dark gray tom with white patches and amber eyes.

Sorrelstalk- Gray and brown she cat with pale amber eyes.

Rabbitrunner- Pale brown she cat with a white belly and yellow eyes.

Apprentice: Runningpaw

Flyfur- White tom with amber eyes.

Bristletail- Black and white tom with amber eyes.

Wrenflight- Brown she cat with green eyes.

Sunheart- Pale ginger tom with amber eyes.

Shinestep- Pale gray she cat with lighter paws and blue eyes.

Wheatfur- Pale ginger tom with green eyes.

Tornear- Gray tabby tom with blue eyes.

Mudclaw- Mottled dark brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Apprentice: Webpaw

Quickstep- Gray and white tom with blue eyes.

Flowerheart- Tortoiseshell she cat with small ginger patches and green eyes.

Hardstone- Pale ginger tom with paler stripes and blue eyes.

Shadewing- Black she cat with green eyes.

Buzzardtail- Black tom with amber eyes.

Onewhisker- Mottled light brown tabby tom with amber eyes.

Apprentice: Whitepaw

Thrustwing- Pale gray she cat with amber eyes.

Stoneclaw- Gray tom with darker paws and amber eyes.

 _Apprentices:_ Whitepaw- White she cat with blue eyes.

Webpaw- Dark gray tabby tom with amber eyes.

Runningpaw- Light gray tabby she cat with pale blue eyes.

 _Queens and Kits:_ Ashfoot- Gray she cat with blue eyes. (Mother of Deadfoot’s kits)

Eaglekit- Gray tom with amber eyes.

Dovekit- Gray she cat with green eyes.

Moorstripe-Pale golden tabby she cat with amber eyes. (Mother to Mudclaw’s kits)

Brindlekit- Pale brown tabby with a lighter underbelly, white paws, tufted ears, a soft pelt, and green eyes.

Morningflower- Tortoiseshell she cat with amber eyes. (Expecting to Cloudrunner’s kits)

Softwhisker- Pale brown tabby and white she cat with blue eyes. (Expecting Sunheart’s kits)

 _Elders:_ Larksplash- Tortoiseshell and white she cat with pale blue eyes.

Crowfur- Black tom with amber eyes.

Darkeyes- Black she cat with amber eyes.

 


	2. Rebellion

**Prologue: Rebellion**

_“This isn’t right… Nothing is right… When we created StarClan, we did not mean for things to be like this!”_

The small silver tabby she cat had to keep herself from hissing as she stared at the large group of cats meeting. The last thing that she wanted was to give her position away for the Council of StarClan would try to drag her in, try to talk her to their side.

 _“And the last thing I want to do is argue with Oakstar of ThunderClan again,”_ she bitterly thought. _“If I had my way… If the Dark Forest was working the way that WE wanted it, I would have sent that mousebrain tom there to cool his head! And also that mousebrain medicine cat Ravenwing! He is very lucky that none of my littermates are willing to step into StarClan to punish him! Then again, that might be changing soon…”_

Keeping a growl deep within her throat, her blue eyes scanned each figure that sat on the Council. Each ‘strong and brave’ leader from each of the remaining clans… Each ‘kind and helpful’ medicine cat… A proud tradition that has stood strong for almost as long as the clans has stood. The silver tabby and white she cat noticed that there only a few broken links in the chain of succession. The ones that she knew off the top of her head that were missing from the leader were Ripplestar of ShadowClan and Pinestar of ThunderClan. She also noticed that there were several medicine cats missing from the lineup.  She curled her lip.

 _“This Council is nothing but a power play for those that join!”_ she mentally snapped. _“If you don’t follow their plan for you, then you are not accepted! There are a few medicine cats that are not accepted because they fell in love… It should not be a crime to fall in love. After all, they are just cats like everyone else: it’s impossible to stop love. Besides, they still have family, you mousebrain. Also… I don’t like how they handle the cats that happen to develop powers… They either send them on the path of a medicine cat or force them into a role of a hero… Neither way, StarClan does their best to cut their chances of reproducing…”_

That attitude frustrated her. She was one of those ‘power’ cats even though the clans over time have forgotten that fact, raising her up as if she was someone to be worshipped. She failed to believe that she was that special.

 _“I alone did not create StarClan_!” she snarled to herself. _“My littermates each had their part in creating this place for the fallen, where they could safety watch their descendants, with a place where those that have committed crimes could possibly be reformed. However, it turns out that there was some… side effects. And they have led to this corruption.”_

However, her heart ached as she remembered that there should be more cats on this Council. There was one clan that had been lost to time.

 _“SkyClan should still be here,”_ she added in her head. _“Not lost… Even now, no one can find their spirits… Besides for Birdflight, Spottedpelt, and Gorseclaw. And even then, Birdflight’s grief for her lost family… Unable to see her true mate… Forced to take on another mate in order to truly be accepted into ThunderClan… And the rest of StarClan has not helped! When all of the SkyClan spirits ended up following their clan, the rest of the spirits turned on them. While the Council knows of SkyClan, they have forbidden from speaking about them with those outside… And anyone that knows cannot state anything to the living cats… They can only learn about SkyClan when they are dead…”_

She remembered watching as a ShadowClan medicine cat getting thrown out of the Council for even hinting at SkyClan to a living medicine cat apprentice.

 _“Well, all I know is that this farce will end!”_ she stated. _“I will find where they have hidden my brother… And I will free him! Then, with some help, I will bring StarClan down… And maybe, just maybe, we can reshape and recreate a new place in the afterlife… A place where the death cannot control the fates of the living.”_

“Cats of the Council!” a voice called out. “A prophecy has come!”

As the Council began to talk about the new prophecy, the silver tabby she cat felt it enter her mind. As she helped give StarClan form and her descendants ran throughout the clans, she ended up receiving all prophecies and omens. It seriously upset her, but it did help fuel her anger at the Council. Thanks to the future sight that the siblings accidently gave the StarClan spirits, they could see the most likely paths that a cat was going to take. However, the silver tabby had noticed that StarClan never seemed to tell the living cats the whole prophecy. They always ended up leaving out parts and gave out half truths. An argument from the group returned her focus onto them.

“Wait, why are we going to just send the sign to ThunderClan’s medicine cat?” exclaimed one of the WindClan medicine cats. “Why shouldn’t the other clans know about this?”

The silver tabby curled her lip as she recognized him as Hawkheart. In StarClan’s eyes, he was a loyal medicine cat that had been a warrior that did his duty. In her eyes, he was a murderer.

 _“That whole situation was wrong,”_ she growled in her mind. _“First they sent a sign to Goosefeather that ThunderClan needed to attack WindClan for no reason… They then sent a sign to Hawkheart that he needed to take out a certain warrior, for the good of the clans. And, to this day, Moonflower has no knowledge on why she needed to die. All so that Bluestar could be molded into the leader they wanted. Bluestar would have been fine! In fact, she would have been better with her family around her!”_

“Because, ThunderClan will be the best place for the fire,” sneered Oakstar. “However, I cannot see why the fire has to be some worthless kittypet! There are several kits being born that would be perfect to save the clans…”

“The prophecy has spoken,” mewed Sunstar, glaring at Oakstar. “We will be sending the sign to Spottedleaf. And you will never know how a cat will be. You, of all cats, should not be judging others just based on blood…”

“Kittypets should not be allowed in the clans,” Oakstar growled. “I personally will never accept such a thing. Kittypets have done nothing but cause trouble for the clans! They don’t care for our borders, take our prey, and cause injuries to our warriors!”

Several of the cats just rolled their eyes. The silver tabby just became furious by his words.

 _“I wonder what he would think about the fact that my mother was a kittypet!”_ she snapped. _“Considering the fact that everyone seems to worship the ground that I step on!”_

“Okay…” mewed one of the RiverClan leaders. “Then it is agreed… We will send the sign to Spottedleaf… ‘Fire alone will save the clan.’”

 _“Okay, that isn’t the full prophecy,”_ she thought with alarm. _“From outside he shall come, to slow the destruction. Fire alone may save the clans, but the troubles will not end. The lion and tiger shall meet in battle and blood shall rule the forest. However, there is time to change the path of darkness… Look towards the outsiders, the half-clan, the betrayed… Look for those on the run, blessings forced onto their spirits… Look towards those imprisoned, forced under another’s rule... For linage alone will fall to the darkness of the forest… Take those with willing spirits: to grow, to change, to be loyal. The fire shall fan the flames of change, of kindness, of acceptance… As from one came six, the clans will have to become one to survive… Then one shall be separate once more… If they survive…”_

Seeing that the Council had mostly agreed on what to do, the silver tabby and white she cat decided that it was time to leave. The last thing that she wanted was for cats to try and butter her up, even if they knew nothing about her but the rumors. She carefully crawled out of the bushes and calmly walked in the opposite direction of where the Council members were going. Despite being terribly upset with the group, her heart ached. They were still, in a way, her children. However, they still needed to be punished for what they have done.

 _“Roseheart, Briarpatch, Paleclaw, Smallstripe, and Lionmane,”_ she muttered. _“My kits… I’m sorry but your descendants are just a group of mousebrains! The future is not for others to control!”_

Then again, she can’t even remember the last time she saw her kits. The last time that she saw them, they had separated, staying within their adopted clans. They had not wanted to talk to her, because she had argued that family was more important than clans. They highly disagreed. That had been before Roseheart had disappeared with the rest of the SkyClan spirits. Her remaining kits made it a point to avoid her if they happened to see her.

 _“While in the current age, the clan might as well be family,”_ the silver tabby thought. _“However, when you all joined the clans… After I gave you away to keep the peace… After I willingly took on a warrior name while dying… The clans were mostly a group of strangers that had similar skills..."_

While she knew that some of the cats in all of the cats were family, not all of them were. There were a few kittypets while others were rogues or loners that had either liked the idea of a group or just wanted protection. After all, not everyone joined the clans wanting the best for the group.

Now noticing that she was far enough from where the Council met, the silver tabby began to run, her sights on a starless, dark area. While others fear the area, she wasn’t afraid. She had nothing to hide except her thoughts against StarClan, and there was nothing that any cat could do about that. Too many cats held her in high regard and doing so would start the beginning of the end for StarClan.

 _“The illusions of the Dark Forest will not hurt anyone that regrets their actions,”_ she added as she ran. _“So many StarClan cats will be safe, unless they have done something that is wrong. Oakstar would die the moment he stepped into the woods… If the illusions failed to torture him, then my brother would…”_

“Silverpelt! Wait up!”

Snapped out of her thought, she turned to face the dark brown tabby tom coming towards her, worry on his face. A young kit, his age being around two moons old, followed him, his pale brown fur fluffed up.

“Birchface,” she mewed, already knowing what he was going to ask. “What is it?”

“I’m sorry to bug you again,” the tom began, hope sparking a bit in his eyes. “But… Have you found any sign of either Patchkit and Petalkit?”

“I miss them,” the young kit added on sadly. “I just want to be able to play with them… I don’t want to be alone…”

“Larchkit,” Birchface stated, looking down at the kit. “You are never alone… I will always try to be there for you…”

“But everyone says that you should have anything to do with me,” the young tom kit muttered. “That I didn’t deserve to be born… That I was the son of a murderer!”

“Larchkit, look at me!” Birchface ordered kindly as he lifted the younger tom’s chin up with his paw. “Don’t listen to them… It doesn’t matter to me that we share no blood… As soon as your mother lied to the clan, claiming that you three were mine… I claimed you as my own. I don’t care that your blood father is a RiverClan cat… Nor do I care that he was the cat that murdered me. For one, it was an accident! And two… How could I hate the cat that gave me three wonderful kits?”

 _“That is right… Birchface is a Marked… just like me…”_ the silver tabby and white she cat thought nervously, flicking her ears. _“But what he lost to gain his power… Something that not many cats know about… Is that he could never have his own kits… His power made him infertile! So when Mapleshade let the clan assume that he was the father, Birchface saw a chance to raise kits. Then… StarClan let them die… They sent Ravenwing the omen, knowing full well that Mapleshade would not be thinking clearly as she was banned from her home… Knowing that the river was overflowing, with a strong undercurrent that would force the kits under the water, struggling for their lives… Knowing that Mapleshade would try to head to where their father was… It makes me sick… However, Birchface is a very unique cat: to be so willing to forgive someone that killed you and take in that tom’s kits… That being said…”_

“Silverpelt!”

She had to hide the shiver of hate that dashed through her body at the sound of her ‘clan’ name. Birchface was a cat that she wanted on her side: a loyal warrior that was willing to take a stand against wrongdoing. While he had turned against his family, she believed that he was correct. He stood against the anger of Frecklewish and Oakstar, not turning away from his beliefs. He was willing to do anything to protect Mapleshade’s three kits.

“Silverpelt!” Birchface called out with despair. “Have you found out anything about where Petalkit and Patchkit are? Please… Even if it is just a sign…”

“I’m sorry, but I haven’t seen or heard anything,” she answered. “But I will continue to be on the lookout… For any sign…”

“Thank you,” Birchface sighed, sadness lacing his tone. “I just hope that they will turn up one day… And we can try to be a family… Have a good day…”

Depressed, Birchface led Larchkit away, curling his tail around the young tom to try and comfort him. She watched them leave and, once they were out of sight, let out a deep sigh. Then, she turned and began running again, trying to rid herself of the guilt in her heart.

 _“I’m sorry, but I lied to you, Birchface,”_ she thought as she dashed toward the darkness. _“I do know what happened to both Petalkit and Patchkit… But it is not your time to know that… While I do not know where Petalkit ended up, I do know that she was able to live a happy life… All it took was one of Doestar future lives. As for Patchkit… Well, he is safe…. For the moment. However, now is not the time for you to learn that fact.”_

Pulling herself out of her thoughts, Silverpelt slowed down, noticing that the closer she got to the border between StarClan and the Dark Forest, the less cats she saw. Adding to that fact, there was no signs of any kits. In fact, the silver tabby and white she cat knew that, after Patchkit’s disappearance, many of cats became wary of the border. However, it was only when both Finchkit of WindClan and Minnowkit of RiverClan went missing that cats began to fear that something was targeting their kits. The spirits of those that were older, those that had lost kits while alive, had began to herd any of the kits away from the area near the border. However, since ShadowClan had not lost a kit yet, some of the spirits were beginning to blame the former ShadowClan cats. She had to snort at their mousebrain thinking.

 _“Oh yes, blame the one clan that hasn’t lost a kit just because!”_ she mentally snarled. _“When there is no proof that they did it! In fact… It’s just that there hasn’t been a chance to get a ShadowClan kit alone… To offer them a chance to be more than a fallen kit… A chance to protect the clan in their own ways… A chance to grow up and not be forever young…”_

Soon enough, she was at the border. However, she wasn’t alone.

“Marshtail! Please come and talk to me… I forgive you! I know that it was an accident!”

A light brown and white tabby tom yelled out into the darkness, ears laid back and tail flat on the starry ground. His orange eyes seemed to cry out with his agony as he once again screamed out, throat raw.

“Please, Marshtail,” he begged. “There is no way that I would never blame you for Brokenstar’s actions… I will always love you… Please, just give me a sign… That… That you…”

The silver tabby could not just stand by any longer. She now recognized him as Heatherfoot of WindClan, one of the cats that had just been murdered by Brokenstar’s unfair attack on WindClan. However, his situation was one of the most unfortunate.

He had been captured by ShadowClan. Marshtail tried to save him.

She had been instead told to kill him herself. The two had fought but only as an act. However, Marshtail ended up accidently getting in an unlucky, fatal blow when she had been pushed by one of the other ShadowClan warriors.

As she watched in horror as Heatherfoot died to the cheers of the other warriors, Brokenstar pounced, knocking Marshtail’s head against a rock hard enough to break her skull.

The reason? In Brokenstar’s eyes, she was a traitor to ShadowClan, therefore, she had to die.

As a victim and a pure-blood clan warrior, despite having a forbidden relationship and a half-clan kit, Heatherfoot was led to StarClan. Marshtail, as his murderer and seen as nothing more than a worthless rogue, failed to join him. She was judged and send straight into the Dark Forest, without a word to Heatherfoot.

“Hey there… Heatherfoot, right?” the silver tabby she cat mewed. “What are you doing here?”

Heatherfoot quickly turned towards her, snarling as his tail flicked back and forth with sudden anger.

“Who are you? And why are you here?” he snapped at her. “Are you here to tell me that I’m wrong? That I am wasting my time! I refuse to listen to any of you StarClan fools!”

“No….” She stated, giving him a strange look as she decided to test the tom. “Why would I think that… Considering that I’m heading straight into the Dark Forest.”

“Er… What?” Heatherfoot stated, stunned out of his anger. “Why? Do you have someone that you love get stuck in there too?”

“Well, not really stuck…” she answered him, smiling at the younger tom. “But I guess that could be true if you look at it from…”

Some of the thorny bushes on the Dark Forest’s side, causing Heatherfoot to flinch. However, the silver tabby was impressed that he didn’t bolt like most of the ‘common’ warriors did. She knew that she had nothing to fear… And was proven right as a tall, slender tuxedo tom stepped out of the shadows. Her heart filled up with happiness and love as she leaped over the border and put her face into his short fur, for now ignoring the fact that someone was following the taller tom.

“Slenderman,” she mewed. “One of my beloved brothers… It so good to see you again…”

“Same… Little sister,” the other tom spoke to her with his mind, as he had no mouth to speak. “Zanth… We have all been waiting for you… However, on the way here, I found someone that needed our help…”

A loud gasp rang out. She turned to see that Heatherfoot staring, his jaw as open as it could go, at the fourth cat. She had black fur and hazel eyes that stared back at Heatherfoot: her guilt shining in those eyes.

“Marshtail…” Heatherfoot slowly spoke as if he couldn’t believe what he was seeing. “You’re okay… Thank the sta… Wait a moment…”

“What happen to this she cat wasn’t right,” Slenderman muttered to the silver tabby. “The death of Heatherfoot was an accident… And she fully regreted her actions. And even then… By their own rules, the Warrior Code, Marshtail was just doing what her leader ordered. Therefore, she shouldn’t have been punished as harshly as she was…”

“Then they would have to send anyone that had killed someone else, even when under someone else actions,” she added softly. “No matter what… However… StarClan doesn’t do that… It seems like, once again, StarClan are hypocrites!”

 _“Though… This does give us a chance we wouldn’t get otherwise,”_ she mentally stated. _“After all, if we are going to beat StarClan… Free these cats from their ancestors controlling nature… We do need allies from both sides of the border… Cats that have been unfairly punished… Cats that were sacrificed for the ‘good’ of the clans… Cats that have never had a chance to be great…”_

“Please Marshtail….” Heatherfoot’s voice rang out, throwing the silver tabby out of her thoughts. “I can’t bare to lose you again… Please… Tell me that you are not banned from StarClan… I… I need you to be by my side…”

“I’m sorry… but…” Marshtail sighed as she stared back at her love. “StarClan has banished me… When I was guided here, I was told that I was a murderer… That I wasn’t worthy to be around the ‘pure’ warriors… That I failed to overcome my rogue blood… That they hoped that our daughter would not fall to her ‘cursed’ blood…”

“While it is not possible at the moment,” Slenderman spoke, turning his attention to the two lovers. “To overthrow the Council’s judgement and give you the same starry pelts everyone else. However, there is a way that you can be able to sneak into StarClan… Zanth? Can you? Outside of Anubis, yours is the only blessing that we hadn’t…”

“Oh course,” she mewed back, stepping towards the black furred she cat. “Unlike those fools on the Council, I am not heartless, nor do I judge those by their blood!”

Marshtail flinched as she marched over. With a sigh, and a roll of her eyes, she touched her nose to the other cat’s forehead, standing on her hindpaws in order to do so.

“I, Zanth, one of the six creators of the lands of StarClan,” she began strongly, feeling the power that she had been born with flowing in her veins. “Give my blessings on this young, fallen warrior. She has been wronged by those in charge… May she one day be able to walk with the stars along with her lover.”

“Okay…” Heatherfoot growled from the other side of the border. “That doesn’t fix anything! She doesn’t have…”

“And I stated that she would not gain the stars in her pelt,” Slenderman answered, sounding upset. “However, with five out the six blessings from the creators… Marshtail cannot be banished from StarClan… Now… While she still cannot be apart of StarClan, if a cat has a problem with her… They will have to chase her out… They cannot snap their paws together and push her out… They will have to find and chase her out with fangs and claws…”

“So that means..?” Marshtail gasped out. “I can visit Heatherfoot… Any time that I want?”

“If you are careful,” answered the silver tabby, Zanth. “I’m sorry that we can’t completely solve your problems… If only we still had Anubis with us…”

“You can worry later, Zanth,” Slenderman interrupted her. “Now, follow me… The rest of us are waiting…”

Zanth nodded with agreement as she began to follow her faceless brother into the darkness. However, she stopped for just a moment to see Marshtail step onto StarClan’s grounds for the first time in her life. The image of Heatherfoot and Marshtail twisting their tails together, walking under the stars when they had believed they would be separated, burned into her mind.

 _“This is why we fight,”_ she thought, _“Not for power, not to control others, but in order to help others… To bring families together and to stop the needless deaths… I hope that someday, that the clan cats will be able to live their lives without StarClan trying to control their lives… That those that could be evil would be given a chance to be good… That cats were not forced into becoming medicine cats just because they have powers… For a culture that respects and loves the Marked, they sure don’t want them to reproduce… That is not StarClan’s choice! That should be the choice of the living cats not of long dead fools!”_

As she followed her tall and slender brother through the undergrowth, pressure began to build as the illusions threated to swarm her mind. However, she used the pain from the thorns to keep the illusions away. Soon enough, she felt the threats back off as her brother used his powers to tame the illusions. The threat gone, she turned her mind to how the afterlife was set up before StarClan.

 _“Before we decided to be nice, there wasn’t much of an afterlife,”_ she thought, bitter and angry. _“Most spirits were stuck on the ground, slowly watching their loved ones until they were in turn forgotten… Unless they happened to be kittypets… Who got to sit in a place of peace, waiting for their twoleg to join them… At first, that is all that we wanted. A place where we could rest while waiting for our loved ones to join us… Not have them wandering around: lost spirits without meaning… That was our first mistake… We didn’t know the strength of our powers… We gave future sight to the clans… My brother then found out that he has been creating Nightmares… Murderers… It turns out our kindness ended up getting abused…”_

“Hey! At least my descendants didn’t create a crazy cat cult!” shouted a voice from ahead of them, sounding slightly angry. “While they never ended up being the leader of the group, they have continued to be noble and kind…”

“He has you there, Clover,” giggled a second voice. “Then again, Clover, your group isn’t the only weird one here… Just what is up with the naming traditions my children came up with? Why can’t the parents just give their children names like any normal cat?”

“I believe that all of the groups that our children have joined are strange…” answered the first voice. “From Clover’s crazy cat cult, to yours Shifters crazy naming traditions… Adding on my children adopting twoleg’s beliefs, and Zanth’s descendants are always fighting each other, not willing to see that they are so similar… At this point, I’m wondering if there is something wrong with our genes… Anubis’ kits were the most normal and they just act like judges…”

“I could have told you that!” exclaimed a third voice, sounding very upset. “Considering that insanity seems to be a common side-effect…. Something that is commonly lost to those that develop powers…”

 _“Oh Lancelot, Fox, and Clover,”_ Zanth thought with happiness. _“Please never change… And you are bringing up good points… Most of the kittypets and rogues fail to understand the Marked… And even some of our own descendants have missed the point… While alive, we were just like any cats, just with great powers… We do not want, nor need, to be worshipped. However, that is not the reason that we are all here for…”_

“Then, there are the Nightmares,” Slenderman stated as he stepped out into the clearing. “Cats not related to me yet are my children… Cats that seek revenge against whatever either almost or did kill them…”

 _“That is right…”_ Zanth added sadly. _“There are two forms of Nightmares… The living Nightmares that chase after whatever killed them… With bloody wounds that will slowly poisons the cat in question… If their insanity doesn’t cause them to go crazy first… In this form of the Nightmares, if they do end up killing their target, they end up going after the cats that they were closest to… In most cases, that is their families and friends… Adding to that, it is almost impossible to kill them through normal means. Then, there are the spirit Nightmares… Spirits that are consumed by their rage and transform while dead… Very similar to the living Nightmares, but more dangerous… As they are forced away from any place of rest and very few cats can see them before an attack…”_

“Yes…. Yes,” mewed a golden-furred she cat with bright green eyes that seemed to be shifting her paws back and forth. “We know about the Nightmares… And what they can do… But that is not why we are here!”

“You said that Zanth may have a clue about Anubis,” added a golden brown tabby tom, a worried look in his red eyes.

“That is correct,” the silver tabby she cat answered him as she joined the group. “I really hate to say this… But I believe that the StarClan Council has him imprisoned…”

“Wait… Why?” growled a dark russet colored she cat with fox-like markings. “What right do they have to take him?”

“I believe that the Council is upset with our kindness to the fallen,” Slenderman added, acting as if he was looking over each and every cat there, even without eyes. “They believe that cats shouldn’t have second chances… That every cat that get sent to the Dark Forest will never improve nor become better…”

“But that is not their job!” screamed the golden she cat, stomping her paws down in fury. “If anything… The dead should not be judging the dead! Many times… The spirits, when they die, are still holding onto any emotions they had at that moment…”

“Zanth… Is there anything we can do to save Anubis?” the fox-colored she cat questioned, fear in her voice.

“There are two things…” Zanth spoke out, tone turning serious. “First, we all need to befriend some of the ‘common’ warriors… Let them know the truth if you can. That they had a choice: that they didn’t have to die. Two, Slenderman… See if you can find a ShadowClan kit to convert. We can use all the firepower we can get…”

“I will keep an eye on ShadowClan’s kits,” Slenderman promised, a dark tone in his mental mew. “With how that fool Brokenstar runs his clan, it is only a matter of time… I cannot wait to sink my claws into his spirit…”

Ignoring the rest of his muttering about what just what he was going to do to Brokenstar, Zanth turned to the rest of her littermates to continue her chat.

“Third…” she added with a snarl. “Let’s mess with their new prophecy… Let’s go and tell every living medicine cat the prophecy… Get every clan in… StarClan believes that fire will be able to save ThunderClan? Then… Let’s fan the flames of rebellion… Let’s get the fire on our side…”

_“StarClan! Your days are numbered! We will get our brother back… No matter the cost!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome Heatherfoot and Marshtail from Vaylor2360 from FFN.


	3. Hidden Family

**Chapter 1- Hidden Family**

“Please… Can anyone help me?” begged a young tortoiseshell she cat, near a dark forest. “I want… I want… Revenge! Please… No one understands my feelings… I shouldn’t have died…I wanted to become a strong warrior…”

“Come to me, little one,” called out a voice from within the darkness. “We are waiting… We can help you… You can get your revenge…”

_“Just what am I watching? Don’t go into the darkness!”_

A young ginger tom, a few moons older than the kit, just watched, frozen, as the small tortoiseshell entered that darkness. He saw the form of a much taller cat appeared, short black and white fur. The young tom shivered as that faceless form looked over the starry fields that he had been standing on, his body calm except for his tail, which was flicking back and forth. All of a sudden, the ginger tom felt his eyes shut.

Then, he awoke in his soft nest, breathing heavily.

 _“Just what was that?”_ he questioned, heart racing as he tried to calm down. _“Why would I dream of something like that? And… Just what was that place? It didn’t look like anyplace that I have seen…”_

The young tom shivered. The last time that he had a strange dream, it was when he still lived with his loving mother. He had watched in that dream as a nearby twoleg nest burnt down, the screams of the kittypets that lived there as the flames consumed them. His screams of horror had followed him into the waking world.

He had tried telling someone what he had saw. Everyone except his mother had either laughed at him or told him to calm down, it was just a dream. His mother had looked at him, suddenly fearful for some reason unknown to him.

Until it happened… And three kittypets perished within the flames. That had changed everything for him.

The young tom began to get attacked, both physically and mentally. Any time he stepped away from his mother, random cats would attack. After his normally soft-natured mother went directly after the cats that attacked her runty son, they changed their way of attack.

He was met with harsh words and hate.

_“Why does something like you get to live while Franklin, Sarah, and Elizabeth don’t? You should have died in that fire!”_

_“Freaks like you should die… Your kind only brings pain to us normal cats!”_

_“Your mother should have drowned you when she had the chance!”_

_“You have cursed us all!”_

Soon enough, most of his littermates had listened to those outsiders and had turned their backs on him, ignoring him, acting as if he wasn’t there. In the end, he had only the support of his mother and one of his sisters. His wonderful mother, even with the pain in her eyes when she looked at him, became his greatest defender.

 _“I remember mother saying something strange…”_ he mused as he stood up and yawned. _“That maybe I wasn’t meant to be a kittypet… That there was somewhere that I could be safe… And not to worry… That there were cats that would be happy to see me… That I was never alone…”_

As he went into the small box that his twolegs had put out for him to make dirt in, he wondered if his mother’s statement was true. While he did have a friend, a black and white kittypet named Smudge, it wasn’t like things where much better here. Most cats just took one look at the strange markings on his forelegs and slash out in anger. The young tom had to flinch as he thought about the new scars that crossed his muzzle.

The sad thing was, in his heart, the young tom knew that his mother was correct in her statement about him. About the fact that, maybe, just maybe, he wasn’t meant to be a kittypet at all. He was always having dreams about the forest: of hunting mice, of feeling the wind on his pelt, of digging his claws into the bark of a tree…

To be able to have a family. To be able to share in the love that so cats took for granted. To prove to the world that he could be a good father in spite of his power.

Finishing up his business, he stepped over to his food bowl, looking down at the hard, brown pellets with distaste. Sighing, while wishing for some more wet food, the ginger tom crushed the food with his teeth, quickly eating just enough to fill his belly. Then, he headed straight for the small flap in the wooden door.

 _“I’m glad that my twolegs had this put here,”_ he thought as he pushed through the hard, yet flexible material. _“At least I don’t have to wait to go outside… And this makes it easy for me to hide if someone comes after me… What cat would go into someone else’s nest?”_

Once outside, he smiled as he sat down, closing his eyes as he felt the wind dance around him. The mouthwatering scent of birds flowed into his nose as he sniffed the air. Everything was at peace: everything was good.

“Rusty! There you are! I’ve been waiting here forever!”

The young ginger tom quickly opened his green eyes with a smile. A young black and white tom with warm amber eyes balanced on the fence between the two yards, waving his tail. The ginger tom dashed over and waited as his friend leapt down into his yard.

 _“Smudge, my one true friend,”_ he thought with happiness. _“I’m glad to see you… However…”_

Rusty frowned as remembered his dream: of a young kit crying out for vengeance, of a young kit being led into a dark and dangerous forest. A faceless figure that seemed to bring fear to whoever saw them. The overwhelming feeling of despair and sadness that surrounded the whole scene.

The same despair that Rusty felt at the thought of telling Smudge anything about his dream. Smudge wouldn’t believe him: he never did.

 _“As much as I like you, Smudge,”_ Rusty thought bitterly. _“I wish that you would take my strange dreams seriously for once and not write them off! What if something bad was going to happen to you?”_

“Hey, what is up with that face?” Smudge asked him, tilting his head in confusion. “Are you not happy to see me?”

“No, I’m always happy to see you!” Rusty quickly answered, not noticing when he had stopped smiling and decided to tell his friend a half-truth. “I just… had a weird dream again…”

“Rusty…” Smudge sighed as he rolled his eyes. “I wouldn’t worry about dreams… They are just that: dreams. They don’t mean anything… You need to stop worrying so much!”

 _“And that is why I didn’t want to tell you anything!”_ Rusty snapped in his head. _“But you’re my friend and I don’t want to hide things from you… But it is hard to fight that instinct to hide things when you keep denying what I am saying. Sometimes… I just wish that there was someone that I could talk to, someone that would take me seriously…”_

Rusty looked in the direction of the fence that separated his twoleg’s nest from the forest. As always, longing filled his heart. Rusty wanted to do nothing more than to leap into the woods and dash through the trees, scenting the fresh trails of mice. However, like most of the kittypets that lived in this area, he had heard of the rumors of the forest cats. The fierce cats that were said to attack anything that enters their territory.

 _“I have to wonder if those cats are as terrible as everyone states they are,”_ he wondered. _“Surely the rumors cannot be true… They don’t go around attacking kittypets for no reason… Do they?”_

“Rusty, you’re not thinking about going into the woods, are you?” Smudge asked.

“Maybe for just a look,” Rusty answered truthfully. “I wouldn’t be long.”

“Rusty, you have heard the rumors, correct?” Smudge stated with shock. “Those forest cats fight dogs, eat the bones of their enemies, and use the pelt of those defeated as bedding! Why would you put yourself at risk like that?”

“Smudge, I’m sure that the forest cats are not as bad as the rumors make them out to be,” Rusty replied. “I mean… They are cats like us, right?”

“I’m not so sure about that…” Smudge mewed. “Remember Piper? She went into the woods one day and got attacked by several of those wild cats… She barely escaped with her life… Her twolegs had to rush her to the Cutter… And, from what Herny told me, she was gone for many sunrises… Now, she tells us that tale in order to save us from those crazy cats!”

 _“Not me!”_ Rusty mentally snarled. _“Piper, like most of the kittypets around here, hates me! She wouldn’t care one way or another if I was to disappear… She took one look at my yellow markings on my legs and yelled at me to get out of her sight. I guess that I was lucky that she didn’t try to claw me too… Or anything else…”_

“Besides, there is nothing in the woods for us!” Smudge continued on, waving his tail as if he was trying to make a point. “Henry is correct: we are not meant for the wild. There is nothing good in the woods for us… Our twolegs give us everything that we would ever need: food, water, a warm and comfortable place to sleep, and they have a place where we can get our injuries healed. Those wild cats don’t have that, and we never understand that. Also… As strange as it seems… Our twolegs love us in their own way.”

 _“True, but I cannot believe that all twolegs are like that,”_ Rusty added to Smudge’s statements in his head. _“However, when we live with twolegs, we lose control over our lives. We have to do what the twolegs want when they want, or risk being on their bad side… They take us to the Cutter when they want… They are the ones that choose if we keep our ability to have children… If I am being honest, I would rather have freedom…”_

“…And if what Henry is saying is true,” Smudge rambled on, looking thoughtful. “There is not much in there anyways. He says that he caught a bird…”

“Henry? Catch a bird?” Rusty stated with complete disbelief. “That fat old tom? That’s impossible!”

 _“He doesn’t seem like the type to hunt,”_ Rusty thought. _“All he does is sit out in the sun and sleep… When he is not yelling at me for one reason or another… Or for basically having this marking and for ‘cursing’ him by being there…”_

“Hey! Henry is not a bad cat!” Smudge exclaimed. “And don’t worry about it…You have only been here for two moons… You will grow on him…”

“Somehow, I seriously doubt that…” the ginger tom muttered. “After all, most cats hate me on sight and that doesn’t usually change…”

Rusty just sighed as he stared down at his front paws, seeing the unusual yellow marks that lay right above his white paws. The markings that have cursed him into a life of hate and sadness: something that he happened to be born with. It was something that he had no control over.

 _“I just wish that I could have some control over my life,”_ he sadly thought. _“And being a kittypet… Well, I don’t believe that I will be happy with twolegs… While I like them, I would like to have the freedom of choice… As it is… I would need to make a choice soon… I… I don’t want to go to the Cutter… I want to remain a tom… But what place would take me in?”_

Rusty glanced up as he noticed what looked like a large bird in the sky. However, the shape was all wrong… Rusty narrowed his eyes as he tried to focus on the form. Then, Smudge headbutted him to get this attention.

“What?” Rusty asked, a bit annoyed that he had to turn his attention away from the strange sight.

“You looked like you were lost in thought!” Smudge mewed in a happy tone. “So I thought that I would tell you some news from the other kittypets because you love hearing about what is happening around here! And so that you don’t have to be alone in your head… And don’t worry… We will find another fellow kittypet that will be willing to be your friend!”

 _“Smudge, you are missing the point,”_ Rusty sighed mentally. “ _One, where would you find someone that would be my friend that would also be acceptable to you? Two, you cannot force other cats into friendships because that wouldn’t be fair to the other cat. And three…It seems like you are assuming that I will stay a kittypet. Why are you assuming that? I might find my own way of life that I want to live!”_

“Anyways,” Smudge spoke out. “Now… I’m sorry… None of the news is good… Rusty, you might want to be careful if you step outside of your yard…”

“Wait… Why?” Rusty questioned in surprise. “I haven’t been near anyone else’s nests… I haven’t be bugging anyone…”

“No, it’s not that…” Smudge stated, giving him a strange look. “And why would anyone attack you for you asking permission to enter their yard? Whatever… Anyways, I heard that there is has been a new group forming… One that could be more dangerous than those wild cats…”

“Dangerous?” Rusty echoed, confused. “How?”

“Well, from what I have heard,” Smudge continued on. “These cats have been known to take the teeth of those that they kill and, if they have collars like us, they somehow place those teeth in the material of those collars!”

“Wait… They are murderers?” Rusty gasped out, stunned. “How can anyone let them get away with it?”

“It’s like the situation with the forest cats,” Smudge answered back, sounding worried. “Alone they might be dangerous but together? You are just asking for death because there is no way that you can stand against a highly-trained group of fighters. And, before you point it out, no, we can’t try and get one group against another… And most kittypets cannot nor are willing to become fighters… However, that wasn’t the worse thing that Henry said.”

After stating those words, Rusty noticed that Smudge seemed to change. His once friendly amber eyes narrowed, the fur on the back of his neck rose up, and his claws unsheathed themselves. For once, Rusty was afraid of Smudge and took a step back, tail fluffing up in his fear.

“That insane cat cult is back!” the black and white kittypet hissed, not noticing that Rusty had moved away. “Seriously? We don’t need those… savages here! All they do is go around causing trouble, and when they leave, we find out that they have taken off with several of our friends…”

 _“Crazy cat cult?”_ Rusty wondered, still staying away from Smudge. _“What in the world? Why have I never heard of the…. Oh right, almost everyone hates me!”_

“Rusty…” Smudge stated, anger burning in his eyes. “All of the cult cats have a similar feature…  White soulless eyes… If you see those eyes, run. If they even have a hint of thinking that you are one of the ‘Cursed,’ they will do anything to get you on their side… Even if they have to beat down and destroy your spirit in order to do so…”

 _“Okay… Wow.”_ Rusty thought, realizing something important. _“So don’t mess with those cats… and don’t let them find me… Wait a minute! Is that why you keep telling me that my dreams are just dreams? Because you don’t want to believe it? I hate to say this but… I don’t think that is how things work… Life isn’t fair.”_

“Adding to that chaos,” Smudge continued on, waving his tail back and forth. “There is another strange group around, a mixture of normal and Cursed cats… And they have the nerve to go around and talk to us!”

 _“Smudge, do you realize what a big hypocrite you are being right now?”_ Rusty mentally snapped. _“You are friends with someone that everyone hates for that very reason! Are you blind or something?”_

“Henry rightly chased off that group when they wanted to talk to him!” Smudge snarled, stomping his paw down. “Those types of cats are dangerous! There should be no reason to…”

“Now that is too bad… We were hoping that you two would at least be a little friendlier than the last few cats…”

Both Rusty and Smudge jumped out of fright. As he slowly turned, Rusty was afraid that he was going to see the stranger’s face turn furious as soon as they saw his markings. However, just seeing the other cat had him dropping his jaw from shock, even as Smudge began to hiss at the newcomer.

 _“This should be impossible!”_ Rusty screamed in his head. _“How can a cat have wings? Or for that matter, feathers? And why are there not twolegs here trying to catch this feathered cat?”_

The cat in question was balancing on the back fence, looking down at the two kittypets. His wings were spread out as his pale blue eyes scanned their forms. Rusty stared back, stunned, and noticed that each feather was blue tipped: as if they had been dripped into the strange, thick water that twolegs used to mark their walls. That caused the feathered tom to seem a brighter blue-gray than he was.

Rusty was so stunned that, when he finally opened his mouth, he said the first thing that came to mind.

“Are you a featherbrain?” he asked.

As Smudge turned towards Rusty with a look of betrayal, the strange winged cat almost fell off of the wooden fence. However, he caught his self with a flap of his wings.

“Okay, why does everyone call me either birdbrain or featherbrain?” the tom snapped, flicking his feathery tail. “I do have a brain, thank you very much!”

When he finally leaped down, shaking his feathers out, that was when Rusty finally noticed the item around his neck. It looked like something that a twoleg would wear: a wide dark blue material with a small silver-colored circle of a shiny rock-lie thing on the front.

 _“Okay what is that thing? Is it like a collar?”_ Rusty wondered, confused yet curious. _“Yet… This strange cat does not seem like a kittypet… But why would a rogue even have such a thing? Is it to confuse twolegs?”_

“What are you doing in my territory?” Smudge snarled. “Your kind are not welcome here!”

 _“Your territory?”_ Rusty asked, slightly upset. _“We are in my yard, Smudge! And… While strange, this tom hasn’t done anything… Yet. Though, if I am honest with myself, I am afraid… He seemed to be Cursed… And all of the rumors… No, I can’t believe those rumors… I am not going to go crazy…”_

The tom just gave Rusty a quick glance over, then gave Smudge a ‘are-you-serious’ look. However, before he could say anything, a loud call rang out. The strange tom answered back with a loud chirp.

 _“What in the world was that?”_ Rusty questioned. _“Is he mad? Does he want to bring everyone here?”_

Rusty soon realized that it was signal when another cat leaped onto the wooden fence, though from a different direction this time, on the side that happened to be near an ally way. While Rusty was slightly relieved to that this tom looked mostly normal, he was also terrified. These two strange toms seemed to be a part of a larger group.

 _“Just what is up here?”_ Rusty thought in fear. _“Why are these cats here and what do they want with us? And… Why do they both look strange?”_

The second tom was a tall, long-haired gray tabby with a pale muzzle, paws, and underbelly, with a feathery tail. Like the winged cat, he was wearing a dark colored collar-like thing with a shiny rock-like thing on it. One pale blue eye stared out at them as the other one was covered by some really long fur that just didn’t seem natural for a cat.

 _“Why does he have his fur like that?”_ Rusty had to wonder, in spite of his fear. _“Wouldn’t it get in the way? How can he even see? Something like that would move in the wind, tickling his nose and making both seeing and smelling harder than it needs to be…”_

Soon enough, to both Smudge and Rusty’s horror, the unknown tom leapt down into the yard. However, as he took a step towards the feathered tom, mouth opening to speak, when he sniffed the air. He turned his head towards Rusty, his eye widening in shock.

“That scent…” the tom spoke out. “You! Young tom… What is thy name?”

In that moment, Rusty wished that his twolegs were here. They would chase off these strangers… And protect him from more attacks. However, they weren’t, and he was terrified.

He was ready to bolt.

“What right do you think you have?” Smudge growled, stepping out in front of Rusty even though he was also shaking in his fur. “Just coming up in here and demanding someone’s name? What if he wants nothing to do with any of you?”

“Then he can tell me no or just leave,” the tall tom answered Smudge back calmly, eye not leaving where Rusty was. “And if he wanted… We would leave… Whatever you happen to think of us, the Knights are not the monsters you are thinking of. However… If I am correct about who you are, young tom, then… Well, how do I put this..? We would have a lot to talk about…”

“Talk about?” Rusty echoed, very confused yet still very fearful. “What could we possibly have to talk about? I don’t know you…”

 _“Though I am very curious about the group you seem to be with,”_ he added mentally. _“And why you all seem to be so accepting of the ‘Cursed,’ well, based on your actions so far… How would that even work with all of the hate against the Cursed anyways? Wouldn’t they get attacked all the time?”_

“Young tom, we are closer than you know,” the tall gray tabby tom answered. “If you are who I think you are… That being said, we need the rest of the patrol here… That way... Well, every cat deserves to know where they are from… And to be able to choose their path in life.”

Before Rusty could gather his thoughts, four more cats leaped onto the fence from the same side that the gray tabby tom came from. Three of the four had the same unusual collar-like item around their neck. The fourth, a young dusky dark brown she cat with pale green eyes, wasn’t wearing the collar thing, but instead had a band around one of her forelimbs with something small yet looked like something that his twolegs would use to make strange markings on large, pale leaves.

“Avis,” mewed an old dark brown tabby and white tom. “Dreamweaver. Sorry that we are late, and it took us so long to get back together...”

“We had gotten into a fight with those Trackers,” hissed a dark brown tabby tom. “They were harassing this young she cat!”

“Why am I not one bit surprised?” the winged tom mewed. “Those cult cats don’t know when to quit… Anytime that we have to deal with them is a pain in our rear.”

“I would have been fine,” the dusky she cat spoke out. “I had just gotten separated from my trainer… I will be fine when we get back together.”

As all of the newcomers began to talk about what they were going to with the young she cat, Rusty turned his head towards Smudge, fear and curiosity battling in his heart. Smudge was shaking in his fur, eyes wide with his fear.

 _“As much as I want to know more about what these cats are talking about,”_ Rusty stated mentally. _“We need to get out of here… We don’t know what these cats want… And I’m not liking what I am hearing about this cat cult…”_

Rusty quickly poked Smudge in the side. When the black and white tom gave him a terrified look, Rusty used his tail to point towards his twoleg’s nest. Smudge nodded but, before they could even take one step, a cough stopped all of the chatting going on. Rusty looked back and was horrified to see that the tall gray tabby was pointing his paw at him.

 _“Oh no, now what?”_ Rusty wondered. _“What does he want?”_

“I am sorry to interrupt your discussion,” the gray tabby mewed. “But didn’t we come out this way to fulfill two missions? Number one was to see if we could find the source of the missing cats…”

“I had heard rumors about that…” Smudge whispered to Rusty. “But I didn’t think that it was correct… So why would these cats be looking into that? We don’t care for their kind.”

“…And the second goal was to visit Nutmeg’s kits in order to see if they wanted to join the Knights,” the tom continued on. “As that is their right… However…”

 _“Wait just a moment…”_ Rusty exclaimed in his head, wanting to shout his questions at the strangers, but afraid of having their attention on him. _“How do you know anything about my mother? She never mentioned knowing any strange groups… In fact, all she told my littermates and I was the fact that her father was with a large group of cats that protects others and her mother… Well, she was a kittypet that had gotten hit by a twolegs driving beast while helping another cat on the dark road…”_

Rusty was thrown from his thoughts by a loud gasp of shock. Before he knew it, the old dark brown tabby and white tom was in front of him, seeming staring into his very spirit.

“Hello….”  Rusty stuttered, taking a step back. “What do you want with me?”

The old tom frowned as his copper eyes scanned him. Rusty couldn’t see what the other tom was thinking but one thing was clear. He was being judged: but for what, he didn’t know.

 _“I don’t know what I could have done, but… Please stop,”_ Rusty begged. _“Just leave me be with my dreams of the forest…”_

“She was correct about one thing,” the older tom finally mewed after a few heartbeats of silence. “You look a lot like your idiotic father… Except for your white paws…”

 _“Wait…”_ Rusty wondered. _“How do you know anything about my father? He was nothing but a mousebrain that left mother and never returned… I don’t understand how anyone can sire kits then never come back to see them… Do kittypet toms just not care about their kits?”_

“However,” the tom continued on with a smile, bringing Rusty’s attention back on him. “You have that same look of distaste that your mother had when she talked about him… And the look in your eyes… Now, what is thy name, young one?”

“My name is Rusty…” Rusty finally stated, even after Smudge whispered into his ears.

“Well Rusty…” mewed the older tom. “It is good to see you again… At least, now that you can remember me. You were so tiny when we last saw you.”

“Wait… What?” Rusty exclaimed, confused. “We have met? But…”

“That is impossible!” Smudge added in with a hiss. “Nutmeg has nothing in common with cats like you! From what I have heard from the other kittypets, she is a sweet she cat that seems to have a strange set of beliefs. I mean… What is the big deal about finding the ‘perfect mate? And ‘being loyal only to them?’ That is nonsense! From what I heard, a she cat should want a tom that has had many kits that have survived! That way, you will be sure that you will have strong, healthy children!”

 _“Smudge… Just stop!”_ Rusty thought, wanting to slap his self in the face. _“Just because my mother has different beliefs does not mean that she is wrong. Why would any cat choose to ignore another’s voice in order to do what they want? My father got close to my mother, made her feel special… Then, against her wishes, mated with her then ran. That act alone made her feel used… Worthless… Like she was ruined for love…”_

“Young tom,” the old tom growled, staring straight into Smudge’s eyes. “Did you ever think of how she would have gotten those beliefs? And… Based on your actions, I can see why my daughter would not have told her children about me… While I’m not happy about it, I understand that she was only protecting her kits from your hate!”

 _“Wait… Daughter?”_ Rusty shouted mentally. _“But if my mother is your daughter, that would mean..!”_

“Now, Rusty,” the tom stated proudly. “My name is Michael, and I am your grandfather. I’m glad to see you… And… Well…”

“Your mother wishes you well,” mewed the gray tabby. “Yet she worries about you…”

“She had stated that the kittypets had been harassing you,” hissed the final member of the strange patrol, a large black she cat with sharp green eyes. “All because of strange markings on your forelegs.”

“Now, don’t look sad, little Rusty,” purred the dark brown tabby tom, noticing that Rusty had begun to stare at the yellow markings on his legs. “You have nothing to be ashamed of! It’s not your fault that others have mistreated you. Most cats cannot even begin to understand cats like us…”

“Now, Rusty, my grandson,” Michael spoke out, looking directly at him. “We came here looking for you… As Nutmeg stated that you were the most adventurous of her kits, we would like to make you an offer… We would like to invite you to join the Knights.”

“Wait… Rusty, no!” Smudge exclaimed angrily. “You can’t possibly be thinking of joining these cats! You’re not like them! And… I would never see you again…”

Before Rusty could say or think anything, a loud scream rang out.

It came from the forest.


	4. First Blood

**Chapter 2: First Blood**

_“What in the world was that?”_ Rusty thought with alarm, the fur on this back rising. _“Who’s scream was that?”_

As fear pulsed through his veins, the young ginger tom all but flew to the fence near the forest, claws scaping the wood as he leaped up. Gaining his balance, Rusty scanned the forest, trying to see where the shriek came from. However, he almost fell when most of the other cats joined him on the border. Rusty took a quick glance around after regaining his balance to see the reactions of those around him.

Smudge was hissing at the fact that the young, dusty dark brown was sitting down right next to him. However, she paid him no mind, eyes closed and ears flicking. It was as if she was listening to something in the wind.

 _“What is she listening for and why would she have her eyes closed at a time like this?”_ Rusty questioned as he just noticed the blue markings around her eyes. _“And what is that around her eyes? It looks like something that the female twolegs put on their flat faces…”_

Deciding not to follow that train of thought for the time being, he then glanced at Michael, his grandfather. A part of him couldn’t believe that, other than his loving mother and kind-hearted sister, he had family that cared for him. That wanted to be around him. That went looking for him. There was a part of him was still thinking that this was all just a cruel dream: that he would wake up and be mostly alone again.

Not wanting to lose too much focus on what was currently happening, Rusty looked around and saw that the other cats from the strange group were staring into the forest, frowning. However, there was one cat missing: the winged cat. Before Rusty could glance back to see where the feathered tom was, the tall gray tabby hissed.

“What is wrong, Dreamweaver?” Michael asked, eyes and ears on the forest. “What do you smell?”

“Something rotten comes this way,” answered the tabby tom. “But it is not alone… I can smell a decent amount of cats in the area too…”

“Great….” Moaned the dark brown tabby tom. “Is this one of the famous clans that your mate was talking about, Michael? Just our luck!”

“It’s your call, Michael,” added the black she cat. “We will follow your lead.”

“We will do our duty,” Michael declared. “We will stand by to see what the situation is! We will not let innocents get caught in the cross-fire. Unlike those clans, we will follow our code. We have honor!”

“But do the clans even deserve a chance?” questioned the dusty she cat, opening her pale green eyes. “From what I am hearing… From what I have heard… These clans are so…. Hateful towards outsiders… To the point that they have attacked kittypets in their own yards! There is no telling how they would react to us…”

 _“Just is up with all of this hate?”_ Rusty wondered, surprised at the anger and sadness around him. _“Surely the clan cats cannot not be that bad…  They are cats like the rest of us… Right?”_

“Hey, you fiend! Drop that apprentice!”

“Surround… that monster! Don’t let them escape!”

Rusty turned his attention back to the forest just in time to see two cats fly out the bushes. The first, a blue gray she cat with a pale underbelly, was snarling with anger. The second, a pure white tom, was calm yet his tail flickered, and his claws were unsheathed. Then, they both tensed up as a figure appeared.

That figure was the stuff of nightmares.

They were a large black tom that happened to be dragging a young pale ginger she cat that seemed to be slightly older than Rusty his self. However, that was the only thing that was normal about the tom. His eyes were a sharp, soulless amber that were narrowed and insane looking.

What was once was white was now was black in his eyes. Those eyes were corrupted.

And that wasn’t even the worse thing about the tom. Blood dripped down from his ripped-out throat and belly, with pus bubbling up from the terrible wounds. A rotten scent filled the air, causing Smudge to fall off of the fence in shock. Rusty just wanted to gag but somehow kept his self together. From what he could see, everyone else was having the same problem. The dusty she cat let out a gasp of horror.

“No… No no no!” she all but whispered, with Rusty just barely able to hear her. “This can’t be true… Surely not even these mad clan cats would do something like this!”

 _“Do what?”_ Rusty wondered in spite of everything else going on. _“Does she know how someone could become… that monster? Just what she…”_

“Shit!” Michael cursed as he stared down the beast, even as a group of smaller cats joined in the attack. “Just what are those clan cats thinking? Panther, Abel, Dreamweaver! Be careful! We have a spirit Nightmare on our paws… And where is Avis?”

“Mostly up a tree or on one of the twolegs’ ‘roofs,’ again,” answered the black she cat. “In order to try and get into the air again…”

 _“But he has wings?”_ Rusty had to question in silence. _“Wouldn’t moving his wings be enough? Or is there something that I am missing here? Speaking of which, why are we just standing here? We have to do something!”_

“Dustpaw, be careful!” called out a tortoiseshell tom, surprising Rusty as he wasn’t there a minute ago. “Leave this… creature to the warriors! We don’t need to lose any of the apprentices today…”

“But Redtail,” cried out a gray furred tom, currently holding onto the beast’s hind leg. “We can’t let it have Sandpaw! She is one of us!”

“And this cat has murdered warriors!” growled a dark brown tabby tom, helping a small black-furred tom hold down one of the nightmare’s forelimbs. “Birdtail and Rosetail are dead.”

“We shouldn’t show any mercy to a cat that,” added the black tom with anger in his tone. “This is no cat of warrior blood… They deserve nothing from us but death!”

Rusty noticed that the tortoiseshell tom looked upset by the young cats’ actions and words. However, one of the cats that had appeared with the tortoiseshell tom, a large dark brown tabby tom with sharp amber eyes, seemed to stand taller at the black tom’s speech. If he hadn’t been looking at the tom in question, Rusty would have missed the slight movement. Rusty felt a shiver run down his back as his green eyes locked with those fierce amber eyes. The tom smiled darkly behind his friends when he noticed the cats on the fence, as if daring them to come down and fight him.

 _“That is not a tom that I want to get on the wrong side of,”_ Rusty added in his head with another shiver. _“While that ‘Nightmare’ is more likely to kill me and is more physically frightening, there is just something about that tom that just rubs me the wrong way… Like… He is the type of cat that would hate me for being a kittypet no matter what… Like he would be my enemy…”_

However, Rusty failed to completely understand why he felt that way about the wild cat. It was just a feeling, his gut telling him that the fierce looking tom was not to be trusted.

“Oh look, some weak kittypets!” the other cat in the patrol, a pale brown tabby tom with black stripes and blue eyes. “Come here to see how warriors fight? Well… Just come down here and I will…”

“Longtail!” snapped the tortoiseshell tom. “Worry about the kittypets later! They are not our concern at the moment! Besides, they are just near the border… Not in our territory!”

“Kittypets are always a worry to any good warrior, Redtail,” the dark brown tabby answered, glaring at the kittypets before turning his attention back onto the cats fighting the Nightmare. “They are lazy mousebrains that could never understand the life of a warrior… They come into our forest, stink up our border marks, and steal our prey and leave their remains half-eaten on our territory. They then just run back to their twolegs, not caring about what they have done to others… Ravenpaw, try and go for the eyes!”

Rusty saw that the young black tom nod as he let go of the limb he was holding down to try and claw the Nightmare’s eyes. However, the Nightmare just hissed and dropped the she cat that it had been carrying who took the chance to get out of the way. As it chased after the young tom that stuck his eyes, Rusty heard the dusty she cat beside him gasp out. When he turned to look at her, she was staring straight at the Nightmare’s neck. Rusty followed her glaze, and then… He saw it.

The Nightmare was wearing a bloody purple color. The Nightmare currently shaking the young black tom was a former kittypet.

 _“But what does that mean?”_ Rusty wondered, feeling confused by this fact. _“Why is it so important that this cat was a kittypet? Come to think about it… Who is this cat? Why is he attacking the wild forest cats? Er… There are just so many questions that I have now…”_

Rusty came back to reality as the pale ginger she cat rushed in, bleeding from the wounds on her neck but hissing with her anger. Along with the pure white tom and the blue gray she cat, they attacked as a group. However, Rusty noticed that Michael and the rest of his group were digging their claws into the fence. Their tails were flickering back and forth with fury as they watched those young cats fight that insane beast.

“Are you wild cats insane?” Michael finally shouted at the group. “Get all of those young cats out of here! That is a Nightmare and they att..!”

“You don’t get to tell us what to do!” growled the dark brown tabby tom. “Kittypets should stay out of clan business… After all, what you do mousebrains know of hardship and honor? You all live comfortable and soft lives, with the twolegs giving you fools everything you never want. Your kind will, and will never be, welcome here.”

The tall gray tabby tom on the fence just laughed at the tom’s statement, confusing Rusty. Then, his one visible eye hardened as he looked at the tabby and sneered, curling his lips. The black she cat and the younger dark brown tabby tom joined him.

“Oh, do you think that being a kittypet is easy?” the black she cat stated, anger in her tone. “And that every single kittypet is weak and helpless? You’re wrong… And that kind of thinking will get you killed. All it takes is one word, one mistake….”

“Besides, not all twolegs are bad,” added the dark brown tabby tom on the fence. “And not everything they do is bad for us! While it is true that they, and some do, hurt us in any way, they can also help us, protect us, heal the worse of our wounds… Besides, surely there have been warriors that have left the clan because the ‘wild cat’ life wasn’t for them. After all, there is not just one way of life that works for every cat! We believe that every cat should get a choice on where they want to live.”

The large dark brown tabby stepped back as if he had been struck. However, those amber eyes seemed to burn with fury as he dug his claws into the ground, fur fluffed out and tail lashing.

“And….” Added the gray tabby tom with a sneer, glaring at the cats below. “You all have made a great mistake… We are no kittypets. We are the Knights, protector of those that cannot fight back… And you will respect us, wild cats, or pay the price!”

“Just what are you talking about?” questioned the tortoiseshell tom with the bright red tail, looking away from the fight to glance at them in confusion. “Pay the price? We only defend our territory from those that would abuse it, steal it from us…”

“Ravenpaw! Are you okay?”

Rusty his head just to see the black tom land harshly as the creature backed up with a snarl. The blue gray she cat all but dashed over to the young tom, worried. The other cats were looking around, acting puzzled.

“Where did that thing go?” asked the white-furred tom, tail and back fur fluffed up. “Did anyone see where it went?”

“No Whitestorm,” answered the pale ginger she cat, glancing around furiously with her green eyes. “It just disappeared!”

“This is your fault, kittypets!” snarled the pale brown tabby tom. “If you haven’t been here, we would have taken care of that cat!”

“Longtail, pay attention!” snapped the tortoiseshell tom. “That cat could be anywhere… Spread out and find them!”

“Once again,” Michael stated. “Are you wild cats insane? Get those young cats out of here and, if you must fight, get as many cats as you can! That Nightmare will be back, and they will be the first to fall.”

 _“What are you talking about?”_ Rusty wondered as he stared at the Nightmare circling around the tree line. _“It is right there! It has not left the area… Why are they acting like it isn’t there? Can they not see it?”_

Rusty kept a sharp eye on the ‘Nightmare’ as it crept through the ferns, waiting, watching. Its furious eyes waited impatiently, that sickly, dark blood continuing to drip from those horrible wounds. Then, the dusty she cat spoke up.

“What do you mean, maybe?” she stated in a stern tone, sounding like a much older cat than she was. “Do you know why Nightmares are formed and why they attack? Simply put, they are cats that have died terrible deaths: by murder! Their souls are unable to rest: seeking revenge above all else. Not even the slow decay of their bodies or spirit will stop them… In most cases, the only way to stop them is to kill the spirit!”

 _“How does that relate to this issue at hand?”_ Rusty pondered as he tracked the Nightmare, noticing that it was heading toward the older group of wild cats. _“Are you saying that there is a reason that thing is attacking these wild cats?”_

“Just what is your point, you strange little kittypet?” taunted the dark brown tabby tom on the ground. “Afraid of death, kittypet?”

“Not every cat has an afterlife that they can believe in,” she answered back. “And every cat should fear death… And stop changing the subject! The point is… Since none of you are clearly kin to the Nightmare… Then you are the cause of his death!”

“Are you serious?” burst out the pale brown tabby tom. “The cause of death? Be real! The Warrior Code prevents death unless the other is outside of the code… There is no need to kill weak kittypets…. They need up running again like the cowards they are… As long as they leave us alone, we would not kill them.”

Michael snorted as if he didn’t believe that for a moment while the other three ‘Knights’ rolled their eyes. The young, dusty she cat also huffed, sharing that viewpoint. However, Rusty focus was taken by the Nightmare, which was making it move, aiming straight for the dark brown tabby on the ground. Rusty could not hold in his voice. He had to warn the kittypet-hating tom.

“Watch out!” he screamed, eyes on the tabby. “Behind you! That thing is coming for you!”

Several things happened at once.

Michael, his grandfather, and his companions all just developed strange looks on their faces, their jaws dropping. Smudge, who had been sitting on the side of the fence that was the twoleg’s yard, let out a groan of worry from where he had been covering his nose. Then, the gray tabby tom’s nose flared up as he hissed with alarm.

However, it was the wild cats’ actions that caught his attention as everything went down.

The dark brown tabby tom just sneered at Rusty, not giving his words any thoughts. On the other paw, the pale brown tabby couldn’t help his self as he glanced behind him. He then saw the Nightmare going in for the kill, fangs dripping with salvia. He acted quickly, pushing the other tom out of the way just enough that the Nightmare’s claws missed him. However, Rusty’s eyes widened as the tom was struck in the eyes. Fur went flying as the pale brown tom screamed as he was thrown aside like a piece of prey.

“Longtail!” cried out the tortoiseshell tom. “Tigerclaw…”

“Understood,” growled the dark tabby, unsheathing his claws. “I will take care of this mousebrain!”

As the Nightmare stood over the pale tabby, jaws open wide as it prepared to finish the tom, the large dark tabby lunged. He pushed the Nightmare off of its victim and bit down on its paw. It in return used its free paw to strike at his ear, tearing off a piece. The tortoiseshell tom and the white tom used the fight in order to drag the injured tom out of the way.

“Graypaw!” called out the tortoiseshell tom. “Go find Bluestar and Spottedleaf! Bring them here if you can. We are going to need support here and neither Longtail nor Ravenpaw should be move right now…”

“Let me at him,” growled the black tom, shaking as he slowly stood up. “I am not done. I can still fight!”

Michael hissed at the sight. From what Rusty could see, blood clotted where the Nightmare had struck, a few drops still running down his face. The young tom had that eye closed as he seemed to glare at the Nightmare fighting with the dark brown tabby tom. The tortoiseshell tom, on the other paw, frowned.

“Ravenpaw, stay down!” he ordered. “No matter what Tigerclaw says, if you are injured, you do not have to continue fighting. We don’t want you to lose that eye Ravenpaw. You are clan-born and, one day, you will be a great warrior, but you need to take care of your body first!”

The young tom huffed with anger but did as he was told. The long-haired gray tom nodded at the tortoiseshell tom and dashed off, a small cut on both of his front legs. Rusty noticed that all the young cats had wounds: the gray tom just had the most minor of those wounds. The young dark brown tabby looked like a mass of cuts and bite marks while the pale ginger she cat that they had fought so hard to save had a bare patch on the back of her neck with several scratches that still oozed blood. Of course, the young black-furred tom had a large cut over one eye.

 _“This isn’t good,”_ Rusty thought, worried. _“At this rate, everyone is going to be wounded… And that ‘Nightmare’ doesn’t look like it is going down anytime soon… Is there anything that any of us can do at this time?”_

Suddenly, the dark brown tabby threw the Nightmare into the fence, panting as he tried to pin the Nightmare against the fence. As he had been lost in thought, the impact caused the fence to roll. Both Rusty and the dusty she cat fell off of the fence onto the side with the wild cats. Rusty had the misfortune of landing right on the dark brown tabby tom, who hissed out in anger as the Nightmare escaped his grip.

“You mousebrain kittypet!” he roared, glaring at Rusty with rage. “I had that cat! You are going to pay for that!”

As the Nightmare just seemed to stare at the scene, eyes flecked with blood, the dark brown tabby tom went to strike at him. However, the dusty she cat leapt into the way, not even flinching when his claws struck her shoulders.

“I guess the stories about the clans are true,” she growled, blood dripping from her wounds. “Battle-hungry, rude, xenophobic… It’s no wonder no one likes you guys…”

“Xenophobic?” the tom huffed as he stared down the younger she cat. “You think that using fancy words will save you? What does that mean anyways? Something that you learnt from your twolegs, you strangely painted kittypet?”

“It means that you fools hate anyone that doesn’t belong to your little group,” she hissed back. “That you will most likely be so intolerant of other cultures that you believe that your way of life, your culture is superior to all others. That outsiders will never be welcomed nor liked, and any that joined will be forever taunted and jeered at, if not hated just for the fact that they were born different from you.”

“We cannot trust anyone that doesn’t have clan blood!” the dark brown tabby tom snapped. “Kittypets, loners, and rogues… They don’t have the courage, the strength, or the loyalty to live our lives!”

“Tigerclaw!” called out the tortoiseshell tom. “Pay attention and ignore the kittypets! That murderer got away… Again!”

Rusty panicked and had to fight down the reaction to try and escape. He glanced around for the Nightmare and saw that it was heading straight for the group of younger cats, who were being protected by the blue gray she cat. None of them seemed to notice the Nightmare slowly creeping up, blood dripping.

 _“Why can’t they see it?”_ Rusty thought in horror. _“It’s coming right at them! I… have to do something!”_

He took a deep breath then dashed past the other two cats. As the Knights cursed as he headed straight toward the Nightmare, the wild cats all started shouting with alarm.

“Rusty!” called out Micheal with warning. “Come back here! Don’t be a hero!”

“You cannot fight a Nightmare!” added the tall gray tabby. “You will die!”

 _“But if I don’t do anything, someone will die!”_ Rusty thought in his head. _“And while there are not of cats that like me, that doesn’t mean that I want them dead! In fact, I would forever feel guilt… Especially if there was something that I could do…”_

However, the Nightmare suddenly stopped… And turned to face Rusty with a snarl.

Those hateful eyes stared him down, tongue flicking out. Then, it let out a challenging roar as it went in for the strike. Rusty tried to turn tail and get out of there.

He failed.

The Nightmare bit down on his tail and dragged him back. Rusty yelped with pain as the Nightmare knocked him over onto his back and went in to bite down on his neck. Terrified, Rusty screamed as he tried to wiggle his way out, trying to do anything to escape. However, those bloody claws held him down as the tom bit down.

 _“No! I don’t want to die here!”_ he cried out. _“I want to live!”_

 _“Then fight, young tom!”_ an unknown voice stated, cutting through his frightened thoughts. _“You have nothing to lose and everything to gain! Do you want to be seen as a weak, helpless kittypet for the rest of your life?”_

 _“No!”_ Rusty snapped, fear beginning to turn into anger. _“It’s bad enough that everyone looks down on me and hates me for no good reason…”_

Rusty’s thoughts were stopped as the Nightmare began to choke him, pulling at his collar as its fangs scrapped at his skin. He gasped out as he struggled, doing all that he could to get some air into his lungs.

Then, all of a sudden, the collar snapped as several loud cracks rang out. The Nightmare was thrown aside as blue gray feathers flew around as the feathered tom rolled. That was when Rusty realized where the source of the crack was when one of the tom’s wings bent strangely, then flopped. As the Nightmare quickly stood up, the tom lay where he fell as Rusty gathered air into his throat.

 _“Did he..? Did he break his wing in order to save me?”_ Rusty wondered, feeling a bit sad as he panted. _“But why? It is not like I have agreed to anything… And it is not like he knows me.”_

“Damn it!” growled Michael. “This wasn’t supposed to happen!... Dreamweaver! Protect Rusty and see if you can get him out of here… Panther, see if you can lift Avis onto your back. Abel, you’re with me! Let’s try and distract that Nightmare for as long as we can!”

“Be careful, old man!” mewed the younger dark brown tabby as he joined the other on the ground. “You are not young anymore… You don’t need to be in the middle of any fighting. You could tell your stories to the next generation.”

“I may be old, but I am not finished yet,” Michael stated as he narrowed his eyes. “And there would be no greater honor than fighting to protect the innocent. That being said, no matter what happens here, it has been my honor to serve as a Knight along with you all.”

Then, the four moved quickly, tapping the strange shiny thing on their ‘collars.’ Rusty was amazed to see the cats become suddenly covered from head to paw to tail with the same material that hung from their collar. While Michael and the other dark brown tabby tackled the Nightmare, the gray tabby marched over to Rusty. Rusty flinched as the tom sniffed the wound on his neck.

“Good, they don’t seem to be too deep,” he muttered to his self. “But it is better to get them checked out or they could get infected… Come on, let’s get out of here…”

“Er… Who are you?” Rusty questioned, noticing that the Nightmare had thrown off the two ‘Knights.’ “And… Why is everyone acting like there are times that they can’t see the Nightmare?”

The tom laughed as if Rusty had told a joke before headbutting him to try and get him moving. That was when Rusty noticed that the strange fur that grew over one of his eyes was still covering that eye. Thinking that was odd, Rusty’s attention was diverted by the Knight’s actions. They were looking around for the Nightmare, which glared over in Rusty’s direction. However, thanks to the fight with the Knights, it happened to be closer to the group of young cats. Rusty’s horror grew as it hissed then twisted around and took a step towards the group. Glancing around to see what the other cats were doing, he noticed that no one had even reacted to what it was doing, besides for panicked searching.

 _“I have to do something!”_ Rusty cried out, his fear spiking up along with his short fur. _“No one else is noticing the Nightmare…”_

 _“Then do something!”_ the mysterious voice spoke up. _“While fighting the Nightmare directly would not end well, you can do something to make it appear… However, just remember this… Everything happens for a reason… You cannot blame yourself for everything…”_

Rusty was confused but didn’t think on it for long. He reacted.

Ignoring the tom beside him, ignoring the stinging wound on his neck, Rusty dashed toward the Nightmare as it targeted the pale ginger she cat. The cat that was the first victim that he saw. To the young ginger tom’s surprise, the Nightmare failed to notice his mad dash as it was so focused on the cat before them. It raised up its claws to strike down the she cat when Rusty bit down on its tail.

He quickly spat it out, moving out of the way as he stuck out his tongue, trying to get the rotten, decaying taste out. However, as the Nightmare turned to face him, Rusty, feeling a bit bold, ducked the first strike from the incoming claws then bit down on that paw. The Nightmare roared, jaws wide open with fury. However, the pale ginger she cat hissed out as she leapt onto its back.

“Run back to your twolegs, kittypet!” she snarled. “You are not needed here!”

Rusty couldn’t answer her as he had to focus on keeping his jaws locked on the paw as he dodged the other claw. However, he just didn’t have the strength to hold on for long. Both young cats were thrown off, with the she cat landing on him.

“Sandpaw!” shouted the tortoiseshell tom, who had been helping with the pale brown tom. “No!”

 _“Oh no… I am done for!”_ Rusty thought in a panic. _“Please… I want to live… I don’t want anyone to die…”_

Unknown to Rusty, a part of his prayers was answered. Michael charged in, tackling the Nightmare as the tortoiseshell tom dashed over to them.

“Sandpaw…” the tom mewed. “Are you okay?”

“I’m okay…” she answered back, standing up. “I can still…”

“No… I will take care of this,” the tortoiseshell tom growled. “Stay here. You are injured… And no one hurts my daughter will get away with it!”

He leapt away with a snarl, joining Michael as they fought together. Rusty watched in amazement as they surprisingly worked well together. The tortoiseshell tom used his smaller size to jump around the Nightmare while Michael, wearing the shiny material, stood firm and took the hits. However, scratches were appearing on that material, going deeper with each blow.

Then, everything went wrong. Chaos irrupted.

The large dark brown tabby tom jumped into the fight, striking out at the Nightmare’s flank. It hissed as it then grabbed Michael and ripped off the material surround his chest. Then, the Nightmare stabbed Michael right in the throat with it. Michael stood for a few heartbeats, blood dripping onto the ground, before falling over, gasping for air.

Rusty watched in horror, his focus completely on his newfound grandfather, as he lay there, legs kicking out as his mouth moved with no words forming. Then, those limbs fell onto the ground and never rose again. His chest stayed still.

Michael was dead, and it was his fault.

Then, the pale ginger she cat cried out as she dashed off.

“Redtail… No!”

Rusty’s blood froze as he slightly turned his head. The Nightmare was standing over the tortoiseshell tom as he spit and snarled. Then, the Nightmare seemed to lose interest in the tom for the moment as it seemed to be looking around.

However, the Nightmare wasn’t done. As if mocking everyone, the Nightmare slammed its front paws onto the tom’s chest before running off into the underground, snarling in anger.

 _“This is all of my fault!”_ Rusty thought, blaming his self. _“What have I done?”_

“Just what is going on here?”


	5. The Sight

**Chapter 3- The Sight**

Rusty found it hard to tear his sight from the fallen form of Michael, but he did. A regal blue gray she cat stood at the forest line, several cats behind her, glancing at the scene in front of her. Rusty had to stop a shiver from running down his spine as those cold, blue eyes fell onto his ginger pelt before moving on.

_“Oh no… I am on her territory!”_ Rusty realized with alarm. _“But I didn’t mean to! I fell onto that cruel dark tabby when he slammed that Nightmare into the fence… And I couldn’t just watch a cat die in front of me if I could help it…”_

Then, he remembered Michael and returned his sight to him. He saw that the black she cat had gotten the feathered tom onto her back somehow and was now by Michael’s body. The feathered tom was awake but was also clearly in pain, his forelimbs hanging down uselessly. Though, both cats had looks of horror and sadness their faces. The Knight’s dark brown tabby tom quickly joined them, whispering to the black she cat. Rusty felt their sadness, not because of the fact that he knew Michael in anyway, but because of what he could have had. A family member besides his mother and sister that cared for him in a world that hated him. Someone that would be willing to listen and understand him.

_“What have I done?”_ Rusty thought in horror. _“I have killed off one of my family… How could anyone like me now?”_

“Whitestorm! What happened here?”

As the white tom went over to talk to the regal blue gray she cat, the dark brown tabby tom from their group walked passed Rusty. Rusty shivered as the tom glared at him as he joined the white tom. Both toms began to chat with the blue gray leader in soft tones. Then, someone touched his shoulder, almost causing him to jump.

“Come on,” mewed Dreamweaver, pointing his nose towards Michael’s body. “We need to say our goodbyes… Before he is placed into the earth. Before the rot completely overtakes his familiar scent…”

Rusty dug his claws into the ground as Dreamweaver carefully pushed him towards the others. However, after all that happened, Rusty didn’t think that they wanted anything to do with him.

“Please don’t…” Rusty all but begged. “I don’t want to…”

“Young Rusty,” Dreamweaver stated, as he stopped pushing him. “Why are you afraid?”

“Are they going to hate me?” Rusty whispered, tail flicking nervously. “I got Michael killed…”

Rusty flinched as both the black she cat and the dark brown tabby tom stepped around Michael’s body. Their eyes were harsh yet had sympathy.

“Young Rusty,” began the black she cat. “While what you do was reckless and borderline suicidal, as no one should face a Nightmare alone and you were lucky that you got away with only minor wounds… But, we do not blame you.”

“Honestly, there was a high chance that we would have jumped in anyways,” added the dark brown tabby. “We may not like the clan cats, but we are not heartless. Those clan cats, on the other paw…”

“Once you and the young Judgement fell off the fence,” continued the black she cat. “That alone sealed in our actions… Especially since, based on what we just watched, there would have been…”

“This is all your fault!”

Rusty looked up in surprise as he found his self staring at the pale ginger she cat from earlier. She had been besides the tortoiseshell tom, face in his fur. Glancing over, he noticed that a pretty tortoiseshell and white was placing her paws on the other’s chest, checking him over.

“Oh?” snorted Dreamweaver, showing her his teeth. “And just how did you come to that conclusion, little feral?”

“If you… Kittypets were not here!” she snarled out, fur fluffing out in her rage. “Then Redtail… My father would still be okay! We would have not lost our warriors! Somehow… You bought it here to hurt ThunderClan!”

“Oh you poor naïve child,” sighed the black she cat, holding out a paw as if she was going to touch her head, but stopping. “Knowing nothing of the world outside of your ‘precious’ clan… It is truly a shame…”

“What do you mean by that?” snapped the ginger she cat. “If you haven’t of come…”

“We had nothing to do with this,” the dark brown tabby stated. “In fact, if we weren’t not the Knights, we would be demanding revenge for the death of our Knight.”

“What makes you say that?” growled the blue gray she cat, now closer to the group. “You are the ones on ThunderClan territory.”

“Bluestar,” mewed the young blue gray she cat. “I was watching them… Until Tigerclaw pinned the crazy cat against the fence, shaking it and knocking off the two younger cats, they stayed where they were. They did say some things, but only because Tigerclaw and Longtail were taunting them first.”

“Shut up, Bitterclaw!” growled a gray and white tom with spiky fur. “No one asked you for your input! Besides, why are you defending these kittypets?”

“How many times do we have to say that we are _not_ kittypets?” growled the dark brown Knight. “We may get help from some of the twolegs at times, but we do not live with them!”

“Then… Why do you wear those collars?” questioned the white tom, curious. “If you do not live with twolegs.”

“For one, it is a way that we can carry our armor,” answered the black she cat. “Two, it is a way for us not to get picked up by the twolegs. Three… Well, it is not like you clan cats would understand.”

“Do not insult us!” growled the dark brown tabby tom from the wild cats. “This is our lands and you are trespassing!”

“And we wouldn’t have if you hadn’t gotten battle hungry and knocked two innocent cats down on top of you!” the black she cat snapped back. “There was no way that we were going to let a Nightmare possibly attack someone that had nothing to do with whatever murder one of you had done.”

“What in the world are you talking about?” the regal blue gray she cat hissed. “All of my warriors are loyal to me and our warrior code… And the code states that we are not to murder unless our enemy is outside of the code…. If the other runs, then we let then go.”

“Oh really?” Dreamweaver stated in a cold, dark tone, fur rising. “Is that the truth? That Nightmare seems to tell a different story.”

“What are you hinting at?” the white tom mewed, his voice getting lower and lower in anger. “Are you saying that..?”

“Whitestorm, I would not listen to these mousebrains!” said the dark brown tabby from the wild cats. “Bluestar, we should chase these kittypets out of here! All they are doing is stinking up our territory! We need to remind them that they are not welcome here, ever!”

As the wild cats and the Knights stared off with each other, Rusty noticed that several things that were just not adding up. For one, Bluestar, the regal blue gray she cat in front of them, failed to show the same hate that seemed to infect some of her cats. The white tom, while upset by what the Knights were saying, seemed to have a hint of curiously in his matter of tone. The other blue gray she cat, so similar to the elder, defended them. The pretty tortoiseshell, who seemed to be a healer of some sort, kept trying to gain Bluestar’s eye. Failing at that, she sighed then stood up, moving over to the pale brown tabby tom.

_“However, for whatever reason, the Knights seem to hate these cats!”_ he stated in his head. _“And I can’t find a good reason for it! They are acting as if they directly hurt one of their members! Through… Some of these wild cats seem to hate outsiders just as much. How and why this anger and rage come from… Isn’t there enough hate between everyone?”_

“Tigerclaw… Enough…”

Everyone’s heads turned in the direction of the tortoiseshell tom. He was slowly standing up on shaky paws, breathing heavily. Blood matted the fur around where the Nightmare’s claws had dug in when it slammed it’s paws down onto his chest. His eyes were bloodshot as he gasped out, pulling air into his lungs.

Then, it happened.

Rusty found his self in an unfamiliar place, under the cover of darkness. However, there was light shining through an opening near the front of the place, which looked like a den.

_“Where am I?”_ Rusty wondered as he noticed that there were other cats in the den. _“Just what is this place?”_

“No… Redtail, don’t leave us! There has been enough death already! ThunderClan needs you!”

It was at that moment that Rusty realized the cat speaking was the pretty tortoiseshell healer from earlier and the cat laying on a bed of moss was the tortoiseshell tom. The only reason that he even noticed that it was them was because of the she cat’s dappled pelt and the tom’s bright red tail. However, he looked nothing like the fierce yet calm cat from before: fur matted, and breath ragged. If he tried to image it, Rusty could imagine the scent of rot and infection filling the place.

The tom looked like he was on his last pawsteps: as if he could die at any moment.

Then, Rusty heard noise behind him as a third cat entered in the cave. He turned his head to see that it was the regal blue gray she cat from earlier. Rusty froze in place with fear as he didn’t know what was going to happen if the she cat found him in here.

However, he soon found out that he didn’t need to worry. She failed to notice him: acting like he wasn’t there. In fact, she ended up walking right through him on her way to the pretty tortoiseshell she cat.

_“Just what is going on here?”_ Rusty thought in alarm, feeling shaken as shivers ran down his spine. _“Why am I here and why can no one see me? Is this…. Is this like that time that I saw that twolegs nest burning down then it happened? Have I cursed these cats? Have I doomed these cats to a path of death?”_

“Spottedleaf,” she quietly asked as she joined the tortoiseshell by the moss bed, sitting down. “Is Redtail getting any better?”

“No, Bluestar,” answered the pretty tortoiseshell she cat, her shoulders falling with sorrow. “In fact… His whitecough has turned into greencough… But… I don’t understand how… The wounds on his belly were healing… His breathing had improved after it that fight with that ‘Nightmare.’ Then… This came out of nowhere… Why is this happening? I don’t understand, Bluestar. Everything was supposed to get better… He is here.”

As the two she cats sat next to each other for comfort, Rusty found his self curious. He wanted to move closer but found out that he couldn’t move from his spot. He was stuck in the shadows of the den.

_“Just what are they talking about?”_ Rusty wondered. _“Who is this he and how can he make anything better?”_

“We will just have to wait and see how his training goes,” the blue gray she cat muttered, a hint of anger creeping into her tone. “That being said, I just wish that we didn’t have to accept those other cats! It was going to be hard enough to get the clan to accept him because of his kittypet blood but now… I didn’t need more trouble!”

“While the young she cat has some potential,” the tortoiseshell she cat mewed, “and seems very eager to learn the clan’s traditions. However… That tom… He is going to be nothing but trouble but… I get the feeling that he is hiding something… Why join the clan if you seem to hate the clan?”

“He seems to be holding a grudge against us for some reason,” the blue gray she cat added on, tail flicking in anger. “Based on what I have seen from him, he feels like he needs to protect Firepaw from the rest of us. Well… Everyone that isn’t Bitterclaw, that is…”

While still very confused and curious, Rusty began to shake in fear. Even though she had her back to him, her acidic tone still reached his heart. There was a bitterness and anger in her voice that spoke of distrust and hidden fury. In a way, she was sounding like a cat that was not getting her way.

“Bluestar, you cannot stay away from Bitterclaw or Hollowtail forever,” Spottedleaf stated softly. “They are your blood and are good warriors. And… If we are to separate that ‘Dreamweaver’ from Firepaw, we are going to have to get Bitterclaw’s help…”

“We wouldn’t need to talk to Bitterclaw if she had not stepped out of line!” the blue gray she cat snapped. “We had a plan in place… And she ruined it! They all ruined it… If it wasn’t for the fact that we could have lost Firepaw to those rogues, I would have never let Dreamweaver nor Spiderpaw in. This is just causing more tension in the clan than we need at the moment! Auuughhh… This is why we don’t let outsiders into the clan… They are just more trouble than they are worth!”

If he could of, Rusty would have stepped back in horror. As is, his ears flattened against his head as he pushed back a hiss in his throat. Anger burned as it mixed with a sick feeling of despair.

_“All of my life, all that I ever wanted was to be accepted,”_ he thought bitterly. _“Outside of my family, very few cats have wanted to even be around me… And even then, most of my littermates hated me… Everything was ruined for me because of these markings on my legs… Then, I heard about the wild cats that live in the woods… I wanted to be strong and brave like they were… I thought that the rumors couldn’t be true. That they would accept me! But… To hear those words come from the leader of the wild cats… That is… That is…”_

Rusty was heartbroken. However, he wasn’t given anytime to think about that as the scene in front of him disappeared. He was now by a large pile of stones by a river. Glancing up, he noticed that there was a large tortoiseshell figure standing on the peak, eyes staring at something on the other side.

_“Who is that and why are they here?”_ Rusty wondered. _“And where am I now and how did I get here?”_

“Tigerclaw!” an unknown voice growled out. “This is RiverClan’s territory! Get out of here!”

Finding out that he could move this time, Rusty quietly peeked around the corner. To his surprise, he saw that there were two groups of cats, facing off with claws unsheathed and fur raised. The dark brown tabby that tried to attack him was leading the group that was farthest away from him with a mixture of cats that he had seen and of those he had not. All of them were looking at the other group with anger in their eyes. From where he was, he couldn’t completely see what was on their faces, but he could tell that they were upset by the rapid waving of their tails and the fact that their fur on their backs and tails was also raised up.

_“Wait… There are more cats in these woods?”_ Rusty thought with alarm. _“Just how many groups of wild cats are there? And… Do they have the same views as the leader of the other group?”_

Taking a step outside of the shadows, Rusty then noticed that the two groups were very much different. While both groups had medium to long fur, the texture of the fur was very much different. The forest cats had rougher, courser fur while the group closer to him had shinier, thicker fur. That wasn’t the only different that he could see between the two groups.

_“Okay…”_ Rusty mentally stated, narrowing his eyes against the sun. _“Something is a little strange here… If they hate outsiders so much… Then why are there so many different pelt colors here… Something is not adding up here…”_

“ThunderClan will never give up SunningRocks!” growled the dark brown tabby tom, breaking Rusty’s thoughts. “It belongs to us! Attack!”

“RiverClan!” called out a dark reddish-brown tom. “Defend our territory!”

Within a few heartbeats, the two groups were fighting. Rusty watched in horror as fur flew around the air. Jaws snapped as claws stuck out, striking at the other’s pelts. He leapt back into the shadows as two of the wild cats chased each other around the rocks. He noticed that several of the wild cats were hopping onto the rocks, gaining the high ground.

_“Is this… Is this what it means to be a wild cat?”_ Rusty wondered, frowning. _“To fight, to hurt… This is savage…”_

Even as he thought that, the young ginger tom saw something. Through the cats were fighting fiercely, no death blows were being thrown. Instead, from what he was seeing, the fight was aimed to cause the other to give up and run. In fact, several cats from either side had already dashed away.

“Oakheart!”

Rusty almost leaped out of fright at the yell. His paw steps took him up the rocks to see what was going on then froze as he took in the sight before him. The dark brown tabby tom and the reddish brown tom were snarling, tails lashing around behind them. Their eyes glared at the other’s, both refusing to back down, to show any weaknesses.

“Tigerclaw,” growled the reddish brown tom. “Take your warriors and go! For as long as we live, RiverClan will never stop fighting for our land.”

“Shows what you know, Oakheart,” the dark brown tabby tom answered by with a sneer. “Long ago, StarClan created the direction of the river, giving SunningRocks to us! You have no legs to stand on!”

The tortoiseshell she cat on the peak of the rocks began to move, inching towards a group of loose stones that lay right above the two toms. Rusty wanted nothing more than to warn the two but found that his voice was frozen. Fear also rooted him in place: there was nothing that he could do to help.

“Oh really?” snapped back the reddish brown tom, Oakheart. “That is not true! Besides, why would StarClan punish RiverClan like that? Unlike ThunderClan, we hadn’t done anything wrong. We are not the clan that abandons kits, nor do we support wrongdoers!”

Rusty was a little stunned to see the hate that he could scent from the tom called Oakheart. The tone of his voice made it clear that his hate was personal for the tom, unlike the rest of the fighting that Rusty had saw.

_“Once again, just what has happened for it to get this bad?”_ Rusty asked his self. _“There are just so many questions that this brings up… Why can’t they just get along? Why does this battle have to be so? Is this why the Knights were acting the way that they did? Please let this all be a dream… Please tell me that I am not causing pain again…”_

Then, everything went downhill.

The dark brown tabby tom, Tigerclaw, charged Oakheart, knocking the other tom into the rocks. While Oakheart was slightly dazed by the attack, he stood strong, hissing at Tigerclaw, striking out and catching Tigerclaw right across the nose.

That was when the tortoiseshell she cat stuck out, beginning to push the loose rocks down on the two toms. At first, it seemed like the stones would refuse to move as Tigerclaw pinned Oakheart to the stones, but then, they began to shift. One rock bounced down, striking Oakheart on the head, stunning him. Tigerclaw quickly looked up and saw the stones beginning to fall. He broke away from Oakheart, taking a few steps back.

Then, the rocks fell. Tigerclaw was far enough to escape: Oakheart was not.

Rusty had no choice but to watch Oakheart be crushed right in front of him. And the worse thing was that Tigerclaw just watched with the hint of a smile on his face. The tortoiseshell figure on the peak laughed with victory, a deranged smile on her face. Ignoring Tigerclaw for now, as the tom had turned away from the pile of rocks and was leaving, Rusty focused his attention on her as she began to speak.

“Good,” she purred as her amber eyes narrowed with glee. “That takes care of the brother. Now… In order to make him suffer, all I have to do is take out the daughter… And I have just the plan for her…”

_“Oh no…”_ Rusty thought, frightened and worried for whoever she was talking about. _“Who is she talking about? Who is in danger and why?”_

However, Rusty wasn’t allowed to reflect on his thoughts. He suddenly found his self back to reality, where the scent of death and blood hung in the air. However, Rusty found out that he was shivering, his fur spiked in fear. He also realized that several cats were staring at him, some with concern while others showed fear or revulsion. Something else that he noticed was that Dreamweaver was right next to him, his whiskers brushing his fur.

“Young tom,” mewed the white furred wild cat, tail flicking curiously. “Is everything all right?”

Feeling a bit shy thanks to the regal blue gray she cat staring at him, Rusty went to open his mouth. He was stopped by an image pulsing right into his mind, causing a sharp, blinding pain. He whimpered as each image rushed in, each one showing a different death.

A silver tabby she cat with black stripes with two little kits at her side, eyes hollow with death. A dark brown tabby tom with a flat face ripping apart two young kits. Several cats sitting under a thunderpath, hope fading from their eyes as they were slowly starving to death. A smaller black and white tom and a ginger and white she cat being attacked by dogs. A younger gray she cat that lay broken on the thunderpath. A large group of cats similar yet different to the ones standing in from of him all coughing and suffering from a sickness. Some Knights, their heads down as they were surrounded by a strange white-eyed group. That was just a few of the scenes that he was seeing. However, he was somewhat confused at the same time as some images were impossible.

_“Okay, I might not be the smartest cat, but there is no way that a cat can die multiple times!”_ he shouted in his mind. _“Especially in the way these cats are dying! And… Why is this happening to me? Who did I piss off to earn this?”_

With each new image, the pain intensified, making it feel like his head was on fire. He could faintly hear someone screaming in the distance as more death scenes entered his mind. Finally… After all the other horrible scenes of death, there was one, final, terrifying scene. Before his eyes lay a hill of bone, bleached white from the sun. In spite of that, there seemed to be blood under the hill, being strangely fresh. From what he could see, the bones of the pile were not only small, prey animals. There seemed to be cat bones. Then, he heard something.

_“If you don’t join the clan,”_ a voice stated, tone serious yet sounding like they were far away. _“Most of these cats will fall… Only you can save these cats… Do you want to have all these cats’ blood on your paws? After all… You are the only one that could possibly save these cats! Their fates are in your paws.”_

_“Who are you?”_ Rusty growled back, head on fire. _“Why are you torturing me like this? What have I done to deserve this? And… Just what does any of this mean and how and why I am the one that has to save everyone?”_

The unknown voice failed to answer back. Then finally, after a few more searing heartbeats, the pain vanished, leaving him feeling weak. Rusty opened his eyes, not remembering when he closed them. His throat was sore as if he had been screaming.

_“Why do I feel so weak?”_ he wondered, slowly looking around with everyone, nothing being clear to his eyes. _“Why is everything so fuzzy?”_

Suddenly, his legs fell from under him as he collapsed. Then, everything faded into darkness.

_“What is going to happen now?”_ Rusty had asked his self before his energy was zapped away.

*************************************************************

“Rusty, no!”

_“Oh please no! Don’t let Rusty be dead! Not when we just found him!”_

Dreamweaver stepped over to the young tom, panic fluttering in his heart. He touched him, trying to find a pulse. It took several minutes of him trying to location the area of his neck, feeling the wound that the Nightmare gave the young tom. Finally, Dreamweaver felt the pulse of his heart.

“He looks like he just passed out,” stated Panther, her warm, earthy scent coming from his right. “He seems to be in a deep sleep… But this is a huge problem…”

_“She is right!”_ Dreamweaver realized with horror. _“From what I have heard, Avis is in no shape to help out… My father is dead…”_

Dreamweaver felt guilt sink into his heart as he remembered his father figure’s fall. The sharp iron scent had hit him before he realized that his father had fallen to the Nightmare. While he knew that this day was coming, as Michael was an older tom that was starting to fell his age, Dreamweaver had hoped that his father would have been able to retire and pass on his stories to the next generation of Knights. However, Dreamweaver knew that the chance of that happening was low. Ever since Petal had died, Michael had been working hard, trying to forget the pain of losing his love. In his heart, he knew that his father would die in battle.

Which led to their current problem…

_“I hate this…”_ Dreamweaver muttered in his head. _“The Knight’s tradition states that a fallen Knight needs to be buried where they fell… But this is those hateful clan’s land! For one, I don’t think that they would let him be buried here… And two, why would I want my father to be near those stupid clan cats… Haven’t they hurt my family enough?”_

“What are you going to do?” whispered a soft voice. “These clan cats are glaring at us… We need to leave…”

_“Oh that is right!”_ Dreamweaver remembered with a mental sigh, having forgotten that the young she cat was there. _“The young Judgement is also here! And we need to either return her to her mentor or bring her back to our base until we can contract the rest of the Judgement. They are our allies… It would be wrong of us to leave her here with these Marked hating kittypet and these xenophobic clan cats.”_

“Here is what we need to do…” mewed Panther. “Dreamweaver, you are the closest to Rusty. Grab him the best that you can. Abel… See if you can get Michael… And take him over to the alley way. We will have to find out where we can bury him after we get out of here…”

“And just where do you think you rogues are doing?”

Dreamweaver felt his lip curl as the unfamiliar scent came forward. While this tom carried the same scent as the rest of the clan cats, he also had an undercurrent of blood on him. This was a tom that was battle-hungry, someone that seemed to always be looking for a fight.

“Tigerclaw, enough!” growled a female voice. “Stand down.”

A low hiss answered her order, but Dreamweaver heard the tom step back. However, the tension refused to leave his body. None of these cats could be trusted, with their history of attacking any cats that dared wandered into the lands.

_“And adding onto that fact,”_ Dreamweaver stated in his mind, tone dark. _“In spite of our common lineage, with the line being siblings, we don’t know how they treat the Marked. Do they hate them or not?”_

Ignoring his thoughts for the moment, Dreamweaver sniffed Rusty’s fur, using his whiskers to locate the back of the young tom’s neck. Then, he used his jaws to grip him and began to drag Rusty away. From the sounds he was hearing, Abel and Panther were doing the same to Michael’s body. Then, a gasp from the young Judgement member stopped him in his tracks.

“Now, where do you think you are going?” the same regal voice stated, a hint of frustration in her tone. “We do need to have a little chat…”

“Then why don’t we attack?” questioned second tom furiously. “They are nothing but rotten rogues… We should chase them off and give them something to remember us by.”

“Hollowtail, shut up!” growled a fierce female voice. “Is that any way to treat someone that helped us with that insane, murderous cat? They could have just stood by and watched as that cat slaughtered more of our clan… They honestly didn’t have to anything.”

“Bitterclaw, be silent,” ordered the regal voice. “And you too, Hollowtail. Though… You have point… A small one that is…”

_“Then why did it sound like that pained you to say that?”_ Dreamweaver snapped. _“That she cat is correct… Thanks to your history, it was not in our best interest to help… Especially since all signs are pointing to that Nightmare was created from the spirit of someone murdered by someone in this clan!”_

“However,” continued the regal voice. “That kittypet showed much courage… It is almost like he has the heart of a warrior…”

_“No… It can’t be!”_ Dreamweaver thought with alarm, placing a paw on Rusty, fury starting to rise. _“They cannot have found out the truth! No…”_

“As thanks for your help,” the regal voice stated. “We will let you bury that dead tom here… As he did protect one of our apprentices from death. Spottedleaf will quickly treat your wounds…”

“Yes…” gasped out another voice, a tom that seemed to be having trouble speaking. “That young tom was willing to put this life on the line for others…”

Fear gripped at Dreamweaver’s heart. He had failed Michael, but he would not… No, could not fail Rusty. These clan cats would not get their claws of his nephew, not if he had anything to say about it! Then, Dreamweaver’s worse nightmare appeared.

“After treatment,” the regal voice stated. “You are all free to leave… But don’t come back here. Your scent will mess up our borderlines. However… The young ginger tom stays here.”

Dreamweaver snapped.

“No! You cannot have him!”


	6. The Challenge

**Chapter 4: The Challenge**

_“What in the world? Bluestar… Just what are you thinking? I mean… That kittypet was brave… and insane… But a fat and lazy kittypet? No one will accept that! Well, it would be better if a cat had clan blood, or at least that is what I believe… But the others? That will be unacceptable, especially to my mousebrain brother, Hollowtail.”_

Sure enough, the blue gray she cat watched as her white and gray brother leap out in front of Bluestar, snarling. Tigerclaw, while not throwing a fit like Hollowtail, took the time to glare at the rogue group. Longtail, who had been laying down in order to keep the cobwebs and herbs on his eyes, almost stood up in anger. The apprentices, who had gathered together to support both Sandpaw and Ravenpaw, started whispering to each other, with various levels of fury going between the group of four. Bitterclaw had to keep a snort down at Graypaw’s curious stare.

_“Of course, Graypaw would be the friendliest one,”_ she thought. _“He seems like he is going to grow up to be the funny, but loyal cat. He would be the type of cat that would an average warrior that is good for keeping everyone in good spirits…”_

Wiping the sudden smile that appeared on her face, Bitterclaw turned her attention back onto the rogue group. Her clanmates were not the only ones upset. The four that were in good shape had gathered around the fallen kittypet, calm for the moment but were acting as if they were about to be attack at any time. The tall, gray tabby tom especially seemed to be furious, standing right over the young ginger tom, glaring at the clan cats. However, Bitterclaw noticed that something was off. The tom wasn’t looking anyone directly in the eye.

_“What… Are you not brave enough to face a clan cat head on?”_ Bitterclaw taunted at first, but then became worried. _“Or… Is something wrong?”_

If she was honest, she didn’t think that the tom’s actions was because of a lack of bravery. All of these rogues, well wary, had jumped into the fight without hesitation. Glancing over the furious tom, she wondered about the long fur that covered one side of his face.

_“How in the name of StarClan did he think that was a good idea?”_ she thought with a snort. _“Something that would just get in the way in a fight… And hunting? Good luck with that! Though… Why in the world would a cat need something like that in the first place? And… Honestly, how did something like that grow? I have never seen anything like that before…”_

The gray tabby tom was not the only strange one in the group. The blue gray tom on the large, black she cat’s back had wings and feathers instead of fur. She didn’t know that the tom was in the area until he dropped out of the sky to tackle the insane cat. At first, she had thought that a falcon coming down until she saw the body shape and the cat’s tail flowing behind him.

_“But… Cats shouldn’t ever have feathers,”_ Bitterclaw mentally stated in her mind. _“It is… Unnatural… Unless, but could that even be possible?”_

Bitterclaw then remembered some of the tales that Rosetail used to tell her, Hollowtail, Birdtail, Dawnpatch, and Dogfang when they were all kits. This was when she was still mostly innocent of the world around her. Bitterclaw then tuned out the yelling around her to focus on her memories.

_“Rosetail,”_ Birdkit had mewed at the time. _“What is Silverpelt?”_

_“Silverpelt is the group of stars that shine above us in the night sky,”_ Rosetail had purred, smiling at them. _“Silverpelt happens to be the home of StarClan, where all clan cats go after they fall. It is where warriors are honored for their life of serving the clan…”_

_“But what happens to those that break the warrior code, Rosetail?”_ Dawnkit had questioned. _“Do they get to go to StarClan too?”_

_“The elders say that StarClan is where the Star-Blessed come from!”_ Dogkit had added on. _“But, Rosetail, just what are the Star-Blessed?”_

_“I don’t know, Dawnkit,”_ Rosetail had answered, flicking her brightly colored tail. _“They maybe are banished from StarClan… It is hard to say… Now, the Star-Blessed…. They are cats that have been blessed by StarClan with powers beyond what any normal cat could do. They could be faster, stronger, braver… Some of these cats were rumored to be able to do things like control fire, cause herbs to grow faster, or even talk with StarClan without the help of the Moonstone…”_

_“That doesn’t sound so tough!”_ Hollowkit had declared, rearing up onto his hindlegs and slashing the air. _“I could beat any of them!”_

_“I wouldn’t be so sure…”_ Rosetail had stated, turning serious. _“Some of these cats have lost their sanity, their loyalty… It seemed like the more powerful they were, the worse off some of them were… And… Because of this fact, and the fact that they were blessed by StarClan, many of these cats became medicine cats or were banned from ever taking a mate. However, there were a few that were allowed to have kits… One being the last known Star-Blessed of ThunderClan, Birchface.”_

_“Birchface,”_ she had mewed, tail fluffing up with alarm. _“Was that the tom that..?”_

_“Now Bitterkit,”_ Rosetail had stopped her at the time. _“Now is not the time for stories like that! Come on, it is time to sleep…”_

Bitterclaw came out of her thoughts to look at the rogue group in a new light. What was once someone that somehow grew feathers was now something that could be important to the clan. Someone that had been blessed by their ancestors. However, that caused more questions to pop up in her mind.

_“If some of these rogues are indeed Star-Blessed,”_ Bitterclaw wondered. _“Then… Why did StarClan bless them? What clan could they possibly be from and why did they or their ancestors leave their clan? Or… No, that can’t be! That would…”_

Bitterclaw had to keep a shiver from running down her spine at what came into her mind. If such a fact was true, then apart of the clan culture was wrong. The blue gray she cat couldn’t stand to be the cat that destroyed the belief of the clan, especially since the mother that she has been trying to impress for her own life…. But it also honestly made her more curious than upset, to her shock.

_“If the clan is wrong about the Star-Blessed, then I want know why it happens,”_ Bitterclaw declared to herself. _“Why do the clans have any Star-Blessed if they don’t come from StarClan? If the clans and these rogues are connected, just what is the connection?”_

“Bluestar! We don’t need any kittypets in ThunderClan! Get them out of here! We should chase them off with new scars to remember us by.”

“We don’t need rogues stinking our territory. What would the other clans say? They would call us weak!”

Bitterclaw had to stop herself from sighing at Hollowtail and Tigerclaw’s words. While Tigerclaw was a fierce warrior with a love of battle, he was a highly respected warrior known for his want to protect the clan. Hollowtail, on the other paw, was a nasty, battle-hungry tom that worshipped the ground that Tigerclaw walked on. At times, Bitterclaw wondered how in the name of StarClan that Dawnpatch could even like her brother. Then again, Bitterclaw knew that he could be charming when he wanted to get something.

“So you clan cats believe that asking for help is a weakness?” the black she cat rogue questioned, looking very unimpressed. “That having allies is wrong?”

“I wouldn’t bother with these cats, Panther,” growled the gray tabby tom, as he stood over the ginger kittypet. “History has shown that these cats refuse to listen to reason… Only wishing to make war on those that don’t follow their ‘precious’ way of life… Heck, they can’t even ally with each other in times of need!”

“But what other way is there?” asked Whitestorm, his amber eyes curious. “And surely you cannot be talking about the dishonorable life of a kittypet or rogue.”

“The way of a Knight, defending the weak,” answered the dark brown tabby tom with a snort as he nodded in the dusky brown she cat’s way. “Or the way of the Judgement, making sure that a fair and reasonable judgement is met. Your way is neither the best way nor the only way to live life!”

“Let’s just leave,” the gray tabby stated, tail flicking back and forth in anger. “I don’t think that they will listen not matter what you say. In that way, they are just like that crazy cat cult: so set in their way that they refuse to see any reason. Beside… You ‘warriors’ are not so honorable as you think…”

“The way of a warrior is an honorable one!” growled Hollowtail. “We have our code that we follow… And we reject the twolegs and their little kittypets!”

_“Brother… Can you just stop and shut your jaws for just a moment!”_ Bitterclaw groaned. _“Your hot-headed, mousebrain actions are not making us good any better…”_

“Do you really believe that?” the black she cat questioned sharply. “Because if you all do… Then you need to stop attacking every single cat that comes close to your borders…”

“This that a threat?” Tigerclaw growled, unsheathing his claws.

“No…” answered the tall gray tabby tom, staring in Tigerclaw’s direction. “That is a promise. And here is the thing… We wouldn’t have to do much for you to destroy yourself…”

_“Just what does he mean by that?”_ she wondered, narrowing her eyes. _“The clan is mostly like family… Unless there is a bad leader, how in the world can the clan destroy itself? We have our traditions and rules… And even a bad leader would want the clan to be behind them… After all, you would need followers to carry out your will…”_

“And even then,” the dark brown tabby tom continued on, the fur on his spine rising. “Attack the kittypet enough times… You won’t have to wait for the twolegs to get you! The kittypets will form up against you… And with your hateful lookout on them, it isn’t going to turn out well.”

All three rogues flinched at the same time, shuttering at whatever thought passed through their minds. The black she cat closed her eyes as if something made her emotional while the gray tabby tom fluffed up in despair. The dark brown tabby tom looked like he was suffering.

_“Okay… What is up with their reaction?”_ Bitterclaw thought with alarm. _“Just what have they seen? But… Now I am just more curious about them… But… They seem to hate the clan… And the best way to learn more about them would be to talk to them… So.. In order to learn more about them, I need to somehow get them to stay here…”_

“Now, we are leaving,” the black she cat stated with a hiss. “We are taking our fallen brother with us… and we are taking our nephew away from here!”

As Bluestar stepped forward to start an argument, Bitterclaw then remembered the ginger kittypet’s actions. The young tom had acted like he could see the crazy cat the whole time, running straight at where he ‘saw’ that tom. Adding to that fact, she recalled the bright yellow star-shaped markings above his front paws.

_“Could it be?”_ Bitterclaw questioned herself. _“Could that kittypet be a Star-Blessed? Is that why Bluestar wants him in the clan? So ThunderClan can finally claim that we have been blessed with a new powerful Star-Blessed. We haven’t had a Star-Blessed since Birchface…. And his possible power, able to see crazy, murderous cats that can disappear at any time, would be very helpful…”_

Bitterclaw looked at the rogue and mentally compared them to the ginger kittypet. While they had called the ginger kittypet a ‘nephew,’ they didn’t look related…. Which means that they were trying to claim him by some rogue tradition. Glancing at gray tabby tom, Bitterclaw decided to open her mouth.

“How can you claim to be related?” she asked. “You don’t look anything alike!”

“Bitterclaw!” snapped Bluestar. “Stay out of th…”

“One, have you ever heard of adoption?” interrupted the gray tabby tom, locking onto her with a snarl. “Two, family isn’t always determined by blood alone! Three, all of the members of the Knights consider each other family with only very few exceptions. Four, that fallen Knight? That was his grandfather. The father of his mother. A blood relationship. Someone that has more of a claim to him than some filthy wild cat that cannot respect any other cat’s culture!”

“How can we respect others when they refuse to leave our territory?” Bluestar stated back, flicking her tail with each word. “Rogues and kittypets have no respects for our rules!”

“One… How would they know your rules?” the black she cat asked. “And two, why should they care? Before I continue, let me ask you a question. What do you know about the nearby rogues and kittypets?”

“Why does that matter?” Tigerclaw sneered, glancing at the rogues as if they were enemies. “Why should we care about kittypets and rogues? They are all nothing but trouble for us!”

“While kittypets and rogues, and any other groups of normal cats can be trouble,” the black she cat continued, looking so done with the clans. “They can end up helping you if you play your cards right…”

_“Play your cards?”_ Bitterclaw questioned, puzzled. _“What are cards?”_

“Besides,” the black she cat lectured on, eyes getting more and more upset. “The kittypets and rogues have very different lifestyles than us. A kittypet, while having much many of their needs taken care of by their twolegs, do not always stay around their twolegs’ nests. If they are not forced to stay inside, they don’t stay inside their territories. They like to wander around… And many rogues move around, not staying put. And that can be for many different reasons: trying to escape the twolegs, trying to find a safe place to raise their kits, looking for a new food source. In fact, I am surprised that your group is known for staying in one place. Then again, you lot are known for being very stubborn…”

“We have to defend our territory against all that would take it,” Bluestar stated. “Our code states as much… We cannot give up even a mouselength to anyone else! Other will see it as weakness and that is one of our rules! You rogues would never understand!”

“Here is what I don’t understand,” the young dusky she cat finally spoke up. “If you have lived here for so many generations… Then how in the world can you still find prey here?”

“What you mean?” asked Whitestorm. “Hunting may be hard at times, but we have always found enough prey to support the clan. However, it is just enough for us. There is not enough…”

“Whitestorm,” Bluestar gently mewed. “There is no need to explain anything to them. It is not their business…”

As Bluestar turned her attention back onto the rogue group, Bitterclaw felt a bit of fury building in her heart. Bluestar had always treated Whitestorm as apart of her family while at the same time ignoring both Bitterclaw and Hollowtail. While Hollowtail had followed their father, Thistleclaw, aspiring to be just like him, Bitterclaw wanted nothing more than be with her mother. However, Bluestar snarled at her anytime her came close the leader and actively avoided her. It never mattered what she did, nothing was ever good enough for ThunderClan’s leader. It seemed like it was fate for Bluestar to hate her guts, and she failed to understand why that was. No one seemed willing to tell her anything.

However, that wasn’t the only thing that she failed to understand. Darkstripe had been starting to make a move on her, taking the time to try and sweet talk her. He also kept bring her prey and bringing her fresh moss for her nest. The mousebrain had even tried to cuddle with her without her permission. Unfortunately for her, most of the clan, even if most of the clan thought that Darkstripe was a subpar warrior, was excited. Bitterclaw had to work to keep the snort in her throat.

_“Darkstripe is nothing but a mousebrain that follows Tigerclaw’s every step, basically worshipping the ground that he walks on,”_ she angrily stated. _“There is no way that I want a coward for a mate! I want someone that will stand beside me in a fight, not someone that will run away! Besides… If I was to get a mate, I just want someone that likes me for me, not for what I can do. Darkstripe only wants to get with me just so he can have some kits with me. Sorry Darkstripe but you are going to be very disappointed…”_

Bitterclaw flinched mentally as she remembered the fact that she couldn’t have kits. As she watched as all of the she cats around her had their first heats, she had quickly realized that hers never came. While apart of her was glad that she would never feel that weakness that would overcome a she cat during that time, it always hurt her that she could never give the love of a mother to someone: be able to love someone in the way that she wanted her whole life.

_“That is part of the reason that I want an apprentice so badly,”_ she added on as she turned her attention back onto the rogue group and the kittypet. _“I just want to be able to pass on my knowledge to someone! I want to be able to leave my mark on the clan that isn’t the same as my father’s. Thistleclaw was a fierce warrior known for his battle skills and eagerness to fight… But… That is not what I want for myself.”_

She eyed the tall, gray tabby tom and her mind began to plan. It was dark, and the tom in question was going to hate her for it, but it was the only way that she could see in order to make Bluestar happy.

_“I wonder…”_ Bitterclaw mentally questioned as just a hint of guilt entered her heart. _“Since these rogues are different than a normal rogue… Is there a way for me to challenge them for their claim on the kittypet? Because it looks like they are not going to give the kittypet up without a fight. If I could fight and win on a one-on-one battle… Sorry, father, but I am about to use the skills that you forced me to learn in a way that you would hate…”_

“Now listen here!” snapped Tigerclaw just as Bitterclaw entered back into the situation. “Leave here and never return! This is ThunderClan’s territory and we will never fall!”

“And you will leave the kittypet here,” Bluestar added on sternly. “We will…”

“You cannot be serious!” exploded the dark brown tabby tom. “Why would we leave him with cats that are more likely to murder him in his sleep? Why would we leave our kin, our brother, our son, our nephew, with kinslayers? You fools are not kind to those that…”

“Enough Abel,” hissed the black she cat. “They do not need to know anything about the past. Dreamweaver, grab Rusty and lets get away from this place. We will have to report back to Lord A…”

Bitterclaw saw her chance. She pounced.

“You, rogue!” she shouted, waving her tail in the direction of the gray tabby tom. “Is there any way to challenge your claim to the kittypet?”

“Er… What?” shuttered the gray tabby tom, frozen in shock at her words. “Why..? What..?”

“Do you have a rule for settling disagreements?” Bitterclaw stated, walking forward, trying to look strong and intimidating. “Is there a way that I can challenge for the kittypet.”

“Bitterclaw, you mousebrain!” snarled Tigerclaw. “Just what are you doing..?”

“Well…” murmured the dark tabby tom, just loud enough where she could hear. “There is the Honor Duel…”

“What is the Honor Duel?” Bitterclaw politely asked, keeping her excitement under control. “And what happens?”

The black she cat started by glaring at her, narrowing her eyes as if she was judging her. Bitterclaw just stared back, daring her to try something in front of the clan. However, her clanmates were also staring at her, their expressions ranging from confusion to anger.

“Bitterclaw, just what do you think that you are doing?” Hollowtail snarled, stepping towards her. “Do you know just what you are doing?”

“I am doing what needs to be done,” Bitterclaw answered back, not even looking at him. “As a warrior, I must follow…”

“Bitterclaw!” he growled, interrupting her. “This is traitorous! Why are you even asking the questions you are? We should just be chasing all of them out of here… And giving them scars to remember us by.”

“Shut up Hollowtail,” she hissed back. “You are not the leader here. That choice is up to Bluestar so… Go back and leave me alone! I know what I am doing!”

“What you are doing is treason!” Hollowtail shouted, raising his claws. “This is against the Warrior Code! You are dishonoring Thistleclaw by your actions!”

“I never wanted to be Thistleclaw!” Bitterclaw roared. “I… do… not… agree with him! So… Back off!”

Hollowtail growled in anger as he went to slash down on her, fury burning in his eyes. Bitterclaw just stood still, glaring at him in a silent rage. However, someone tackled him, stopping the attack.

“I believe the lady said to shut up and leave her alone… You savage!”

Bitterclaw was stunned to see that the gray tabby rogue had Hollowtail pinned under his claws, and, quickly glancing around, she wasn’t the only one. Her clanmates were on edge, ready to attack. The rogue group, on the other paw, seemed to be surprised, confusion on their faces. They looked as if they didn’t know what to say in the moment.

“You mousebrain rogue!” snapped Hollowtail. “Get off of me!”

“Dreamweaver, what in the world are you doing?” shouted the black furred she cat. “Have you lost your mind? Why in the world would you even...? Get off of him, now! That is an order!”

With a hiss, the tall gray tabby got off of Hollowtail and headed back towards the rest of the group. However, the tom made a point of kicking dirt over him, showing his displeasure at Hollowtail. While many of her clanmates fluffed up in anger, and the rogue group looked like they just wanted to leave, Bitterclaw was impressed.

_“That is the type of tom that I would want as a friend!”_ Bitterclaw mentally stated. _“Someone that would be willing to challenge someone like Tigerclaw and my father… Someone that would be willing to call them out… Someone that wasn’t willing to bent nor break under the pressure of the clan… Possibly someone that could like me in spite of my own troubles… Someone that could love me even if I cannot give them what everyone else seems to believe that I owe the clan… But… I have to attack now, or I could lose this chance.”_

A mixture of feelings bubbled up in her. A part of her just wanted to escape what others wanted of her, to just be a normal warrior, to be seen as trustworthy. Another part just wanted to escape the shadow that Thistleclaw created over her: the fierce, stubborn, warrior that was willing to do _anything_ to make ThunderClan more powerful. However, like a flame burning through the woods, there was a spark of her need for affection from Bluestar. It had been her desire, her driving force, to please her mother, to become someone that she could be proud of. Now was the time for action.

“You, rogue!” Bitterclaw roared at the tall gray tabby. “I challenge you!”

The tom flinched, stopping suddenly. He slowly turned towards her, a look that was a mixture of disbelief and horror. Bitterclaw heard a gasp of shock come from behind her from her clanmates but she pushed forward with her on-the-spot plan.

“I challenge you to an honor duel!” she added on fiercely, unsheathing her claws. “Now… Let’s fight!”

“Seriously..?” muttered someone behind her. “Has Bitterclaw lost her mind?”

“My lady….” Hissed the tall tabby tom as he stared at her. “Do you understand what you are saying? Do you understand what you are trying to jump headfirst into?”

“Then tell me…” Bitterclaw growled, getting right into his face. “Inform me of the rules… Now! I would hate to have to slash up that handsome face because my leader ordered me to chase you off…”

_“Ohhh…. Ooooppsss!”_ she thought, feeling her face heat up in shame. _“Did I just say that out loud?”_

The tom just looked stunned for a moment before his eye frozen up again.

“Miss clan cat,” the tom spoke out through his teeth. “Are you sure that you want to take this challenge? Even if it could mean your death? Whoever you end up fighting is not going to take it easy on you!”

“What… Death?” Bitterclaw stated in shock, tail shooting up. “Listen… I just want to win the right to bring the kittypet into the clan… I will not… No, I cannot fail! However… Despite what you rogues seem to think about us… I am not aiming to kill my opponent! Not with what I am planning!”

“You are not planning to kill your opponent?” the tom questioned, puzzlement in his tone. “Okay… a bit strange but we will roll with that… Now… If you are serious about fighting an Honor Duel, then… As the challenger, you need to pick who you are going to fight then lay out some of the terms of your challenge…”

“That is easy,” Bitterclaw answered strongly, feeling her spirit rise up as she stood tall. “I want to fight you!”

“What?” exclaimed the black she cat. “Why him? He has… He is…”

“These clan cats do not need to know that about me, Panther,” the gray tabby hissed, looking very displeased, tail flicking to show his emotions. “If they are not smart enough to listen to all the clues, then they don’t deserve to know! Besides… I don’t want everyone knowing my weakness… Besides… This could be the chance that need. To prove myself!”

_“Just what is going here?”_ Bitterclaw thought, staring at him. _“What is up with this hidden anger? Why is he suddenly turning on them? And… what about this weakness he was talking about? I just want to know more about him now…”_

“Anyways…” the tom hissed, turning his attention back onto her. “Now…We need to set up a date for the duel.”

“A date?” Bitterclaw questioned, tail flicking. “Why can’t we just fight right now and get it over with?”

“You will need the time to think up of the conditions of your possible win,” the tabby tom stated. “And we will need to find a good place and time for it…  And someone to act as a judge for the duel…”

“But why?” Bitterclaw snapped. “Are you a foxheart or a war…”

“Stop right there, my lady,” he interrupted. “I’m a Knight, not a warrior! I am not going to have your viewpoint. My life’s experiences will be different. As for the wait… It will give each of us time to plan… To heal. Listen… Do you honestly think that it would be a good idea to fight now? Right after battling something as monstrous as that Nightmare? Which will be back as it wasn’t taken down and now could possibly go after the Knights because we jumped in to help?”

_“Okay…”_ Bitterclaw mentally reflected. “ _That makes sense… Many of us are injured from attacking that insane cat… And… It would be nice to mourn both Birdtail and Rosetail.”_

Bitterclaw had to stop herself from flinching at the thought of forgetting that fact. Rosetail was the cat that raised her and Hollowtail after Bluestar decided that being deputy was more important than either love or family. At least, that was the rumor that ran around ThunderClan when everyone thought that she wasn’t nearby. It hurt every time that she had to hear about the fact that her own birth mother didn’t want anything to do with her.

_“However_ , _no one ever has blamed me or Hollowtail for what happened,”_ Bitterclaw added on in her mind. _“In fact, from what I was able to learn, a lot of cats looked down on Bluestar for her actions. Thistleclaw had claimed that Bluestar had been willing, that she had been so disappointed by the lost of her kits… But if that was the case, why go with my father? Didn’t she have a mate already and why would he agree to let Thistleclaw go after his mate… Honestly, I’m a bit surprised that very few cats found out the truth… And continued to blame Bluestar… No, now is not the time to time about that… That is a mystery for another time…”_

“Okay, I see your point on that,” Bitterclaw finally stated. “But if you leave, how in the world will I get in contact with you? So that we can set up the duel?”

“In that case,” the tall tabby tom answered. “I will remain nearby… After all, I do need to pass on the information to our leader… And your leader will most likely will want to put in her two cents into some of your win condition. Also, I need to get Rusty out of here… And bury my dad.”

“Now, some rules that you clan cats will have to follow until then,” growled the black she cat, stepping forward, the groaning feathered tom on her back. “Because Rusty is one of the conditions, neither group is allowed to run off with him. They can talk to him, but they cannot force him one way or another to join him. If you do… You would have broken the agreement of the duel and we will not show you any mercy, for you would have kidnapped one of our family members. And if we find him dead… You all better hope that your deaths will be clean! Now, come Dreamweaver. Let’s go…”

The tabby tom nodded and grabbed the ginger kittypet’s neck and dragged away from the border while his rogue friend grabbed the fallen body and dragged it in the same direction. The black she cat slowly followed them, keeping an eye on the clan cats the whole time with unsheathed claws. Then, after the group had left the area and the tension had died down for the moment, Bitterclaw sighed and turned to face her clanmates…

Only to find Bluestar right behind her, furious.

_“Oh no… What is she mad about now?”_ Bitterclaw thought with alarm. _“I was doing what she wanted! We have a chance to get that kittypet into the clan!”_

“Bitterclaw… Come with me,” growled Bluestar, somehow keeping a regal air around her even as her tail was lashing back and forth. “After Spottedleaf is done treating everyone, we are going to have a talk with you… And decide your punishment for your actions. You have broken the rules of the clan.”

_“But…”_ Bitterclaw mentally mewed. _“I was trying to help you! Why am I being punished for this? Isn’t this what you wanted?”_

Bitterclaw sighed as Bluestar turned away from her, noticing the stares that she was getting from her clanmates. Hollowtail and Tigerclaw just snorted as they helped Longtail to his paws and many of her less fierce clanmates were ignoring her, not willing to look in her direction. In a way, Bitterclaw was being treated like a traitor.

_“What have I done?”_ she wondered, looking at all of her clanmates. _“Have I done the right thing? I… I think that I did… I have to win this duel… For honor, for ThunderClan. I cannot fail this.”_

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Character Creation
> 
> You can create a character for this story. However, I will make the final decision on how they enter.  
> Also, I am posting this to other fanfictions sites. Only post characters if I can use them on all sites.
> 
> Cat’s Name:
> 
> Gender:
> 
> Eye color:
> 
> Pelt Color:
> 
> Clan:
> 
> Personality:
> 
> Crushes:
> 
> Other:


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